Viking men rally in nail-biter against Andrews

Thursday's 75-74 road win against Andrews University was an early-season statement for the Glen Oaks Community College men's basketball team. 

After a miserable start to the first half where the Vikings were down 21-2, they went on a 9-0 run to get back within striking distance for the remainder of the frame. Glen Oaks would trail 34-24 at the break and  battled throughout the second half to put itself in a position at the end of the game to keep its undefeated streak intact. Keri Foster grabbed an offensive rebound under the basket and scored on the putback with six seconds left for what would be the game-winning shot. 

All nine of Foster's points were in the second half off the bench. 

"This is a big-time culture win for us," said first-year head coach Sam Waniewski, whose team is not 4-0. "We got down big early but I was very proud of our guys for staying together and fighting through adversity."

And foul trouble. By the end, four Vikings had fouled out of the game and Andrews capitalized, scoring 15 points of its 38 second-half points at the stripe. 

Glen Oaks went on a 7-0 run to make it 21-9 in the first half. And after a dead ball technical foul on the Cardinals, Smith hit both foul shots to make it a 10-point deficit with 7:42 to play in the first half. The Vikings got a basket by Brown and Styles would make two out of three foul shots after drawing contact on an attempt from behind the arc to stay within 10 points of Andrews over the next two minutes. 

Akin Smith buried a triple at the 4:11 mark to make it a 25-18 deficit and fire up the GOCC bench. He would go on to score a team-high 19 points. 

But by the 1:42  mark, the Vikings trailed by 14, struggling to get anything to fall until Smith cleaned up a miss under the hoop to make it 32-20. 

A free throw by Brown and a triple by Jordan Lomax made it 34-24 at the break. 

Moore opened the second half with a physical offensive rebound and putback. He was fouled on the effort but couldn't complete the three-point play. Moore ended up scoring 10 of his 12 points in the second half. Jordan Lomax hit a pair of free throws to once again cut Andrews' lead to eight points. 

Foul trouble caught up with the Vikings as Moore, Brown and Jordan Lomax were saddled with three apiece with 17:29 remaining. Andrews pushed the lead back to 12 before Moore muscled in a field goal in the lane. Smith followed with a smooth jumper at the top of the key to again get GOCC within eight points, 40-32. Andrews answered immediately with a 3-pointer to push the lead back to double digits. 

Joreim Lomax drained a triple on the next trip down the floor for Glen Oaks. He'd go on to finish with 14 points for the Vikings — all coming in the second half — and eight rebounds. Smith pulled down a defensive board and went the length of the court for a lay-in to make it a two-possession contest for the first time since early in the first half. 

The exchange of blows continued as Andrews came out of a full timeout. Glen Oaks couldn't capitalize at the foul line, which was a theme for the game. The Vikings were 12-for-23 at the stripe for the game and 6-for-11 in the second half. Meanwhile, the Cardinals went 17-for-21 at the foul line in the second half alone and outscored the Vikings 24-12 at the line for the night. 

Still, Glen Oaks hung around as Foster gave the squad a boost from the bench. After subbing in for Jordan Lomax, who picked up his fourth foul with under 14 minutes remaining, Foster stole an inbound pass and converted on the other end to make it 46-39 in favor of the Cardinals. 

A minute later Andrews hit from deep to inflate the cushion back to 10. Yet again, Glen Oaks got a big shot when it needed one as Joreim Lomax knocked down a triple on the next possession. He'd miss the next one but Jordan Pisco grabbed the board in the lane and hit Joreim Lomax cutting through the lane for a lay-in to make it a 49-44 game with a little under 12 minutes remaining. 

Moore, who had a strong defensive rebound on the other end, scored down low to cut it to three points and force Andrews to call a timeout and think things over. The Vikings came away with a steal on the ensuing inbound play and Joreim Lomax laid it in for a one-point game, 49-48. 

Moore's putback with 10:14 on the clock gave Glen Oaks its first lead of the night, 50-49. It was short-lived as the Cardinals quickly responded with a pair of free throws. Moore countered with a bucket in the paint and Smith tipped in a miss to give the Vikings a 54-51 advantage. 

Foster connected on a 3-pointer to make it a 57-52 Glen Oaks lead but was called for a technical foul on the celebration that followed. Andrews hit one free throw before drawing a foul on the next possession, which also resulted in a made free throw. With a three-point lead, Kelvion Brown banged in a trey for the largest advantage of the night for GOCC. with 6:35 remaining. 

The Cardinals, which couldn't get anything going offensively, stayed in it by getting to the line. And after cutting the deficit to four, Andrews stole the ball at midcourt and ended a long field goal drought with a basket on the baseline. Joreim Lomax countered with a three-point play on the other end to give Glen Oaks a five-point cushion with 4:31 to play. 

The Cardinals continued to survive at the foul line, cutting Glen Oaks' lead to 64-62 with 3:24 remaining. Moore fouled out on the next GOCC possession after being called for an offensive foul. Andrews, in the bonus, drew a foul on the other end and tied things up with a pair of free throws. Brown was charged with an offensive foul, putting the Cardinals on the line again. They hit both for a 66-64 lead with 2:33 on the clock. 

After a missed 3-point attempt by the Vikings, Andrews scored in transition for a 68-64 advantage. Foster hit a runner in the lane for Glen Oaks but the Cardinals answered with a tough shot at the end of the shot clock to maintain a 70-66 lead. 

With 1:12 to play, Jordan Lomax hit the front end of a 1-and-1 and the Vikings retained possession after the ball went out of bounds off Andrews. Glen Oaks missed four shots but got to the line and Joreim Lomax converted on one attempt to cut the deficit to 70-68 with 51 ticks on the clock. 

Joreim Lomax fouled out on the next Andrews possession, which resulted in a pair of made foul shots and a four-point lead for the Cardinals. Darius Styles hit a huge 3-pointer for Glen Oaks to get within one with 34 seconds left. 

Jordan Lomax fouled out as the Cardinals crossed halfcourt and Andrews once again made both from the line. Smith tipped in a miss on the other end for Glen Oaks with 16 seconds left to make it a 74-73 Andrews advantage. The Vikings came up with a jump ball, and needing a basket desperately, Foster secured a rebound for the quick putback and game-winner with six seconds left. Glen Oaks forced a turnover on the other end with eight-tenths of a second remaining to end the game.