Emory, VA – Salem University men's basketball took down Emory & Henry in an overtime thriller 80-77 on Thursday.
Tobias Howard Jr. led all scorers with 23 points followed by Fonz Hale with 15 and Darius Bell with 15 points and nine rebounds.
After back-to-back layups from Bell and Hale, the Tigers took the early 7-2 lead. The Wasps answered, scoring 11 consecutive to take the 18-12 lead midway through the first. The Tigers battled back to retake the lead 28-27 at the 4-minute mark after Howard forced the turnover and found Felix Gue in transition for two. After back-and-forth lead changes in the final minutes, the Tigers took the 38-35 advantage into the half.
Midway through the second half Rodney Smith hit a midrange jumper to tie it at 51. At the seven-minute mark, a second chance bucket for the Wasps gave them the 11-point lead. The battled back late in the half with an 12-0 run to take the two-point lead. A bucket by the Wasps with 1:27 remaining sent the game into overtime.
The Wasps took the lead twice in the opening 20 seconds, but the Tigers tied it up at 75 and never gave up the lead. The Wasps pulled within two with 23 seconds remaining but fouled coming out of the timeout to send Howard to the line. Howard made the first, missed the second giving the Wasps the chance to force a second overtime. A shot by the Wasps with one second left bounced off the rim, giving the Tigers the 80-77 victory.
Up Next
The Tigers will be back in action Saturday, February 5th against Washington Adventist University at 7 p.m.
