WISE — It was an overtime thriller, but the Pioneers will be in the finals of the PVB Holiday Hoops Classic to defend their title. In a battle between two outstanding basketball teams on Friday, Lebanon eased by Union 65-54 in the David J. Prior Convocation Center.
“It was a gutsy win,” Lebanon coach Scotty Bostic said. “We didn’t finish regulation great in the last minute; we didn’t take care of the ball and gave them the opportunity. But we came out in overtime and played our best basketball.”
After a jumper by Andy Lambert gave Lebanon a 48-46 lead with two minutes to play, they didn’t score again in regulation. The Bears struggled to score, too. Reyshawn Anderson sank two critical foul shots with 23.6 seconds remaining to tie the contest for the sixth time. Neither team would score again.
Union got the tip in OT but missed a shot. The Pioneers found Lambert open in the corner, and he sank a 3-pointer to give Lebanon the momentum.
“Going into overtime, I knew someone needed to step up and get us a big bucket,” Lambert said. “I’ve always said I live for moments like that. I had a look; it felt great off my fingers, and it was cash.”
The Bears missed their next shot, and Lebanon had a miss, but Lambert was there to pull the offensive rebound and put-back for a large five-point lead.
“Coach Boyd has stressed how important rebounding was for me this year,” stated Lambert. “We’re not a big team. Mike [Reece], our biggest player, needs some help on the boards. I’ve tried my best to crash the boards, and it worked out well tonight.”
Lebanon outscored the Bears 17-6 in OT when Union was only 3-of-8 from the floor. With Union behind, they had to foul when the Pioneers spread the floor, and Lebanon put it away with a 10-of-12 effort from the line in OT.
“As I have been all season, I’m just proud of the competitive spirit my guys have shown,” said Union coach Kory Bostic. “On a night we didn’t shoot the ball well, give credit to Lebanon for playing great defensively, but we battled and competed to push it into overtime. They made some plays in overtime, and we didn’t. It was a good early season game that will make both teams better down the road.”
Kam Bostic (24 points), Paul Huff (12 points, four boards) and Anderson (10 points, seven rebounds) paced the Bears in the loss.
“The last four minutes, Lebanon played better than us,” Coach Bostic said. “They came out and made that big 3 and got some stops. We missed a couple of shots that we make most of the time, but we’ll keep shooting. I have confidence in my guys and am proud of how they played and battled.”
Lebanon made 52.3 percent of their shots, and the Bears 39.2 percent of their attempts; most other statistics were even.
“It turned into a half-court grind-it-out kind of game,” remarked Boyd. “Union is good defensively, and we showed that we can be really good defensively too. They are a good team, I’m proud of how we played defense tonight.”
Lambert finished with 20 points and four rebounds. Reece added 14 points and nine boards. Hunter Musick (nine points, six boards) and Brody Wess (nine points, three assists, three steals) also made big contributions.
“Andy is a clutch player, he’s done it his whole career,” Boyd said. “It’s good to have the ball in his hands late in the game. He really got going with 11 points in overtime.”