Muncie Central led Guerin Catholic by eleven points going into the fourth quarter. But after multiple baskets, including a fast-break slam dunk, they found themselves only up one with 2:19 remaining.
After a back-and-forth minute, the Bearcats used their ability to drive in and draw fouls.
Up six in the final seconds, senior guard Josiah Ullom stole the ball and was fouled. He sank both free throws and helped defeat the Golden Eagles 55-47.
He enjoyed the moment, especially because of the crowd.
“It's awesome," Ullom said. “Especially because we're getting more fans out here and with the atmosphere. It was loud in here.”
The Bearcats (2-0, 0-0 NC) started out the game with a fast-paced first quarter. But it wasn’t the fact that they scored 16 points, but the fact that they held the Golden Eagles (1-2, 0-0 CC) to just three points.
Head coach Justin Ullom credited his team for their defensive effort.
“We know we're right now our defense is way ahead of our offense, '' he said. “Our defense saved us there at the end, the last five possessions held them scoreless and that was huge.”
After a flipped second quarter that saw Muncie Central only scoring six points while Guerin catholic scored 15 points, the Bearcats led by seven at the half.
Coming into the third quarter, Muncie Central scored five quick points, and by the end, they led 36-25. That is when Guerin Catholic went on their offensive run, but it would be the Bearcats' foul shooting that carried them to a home victory.
As a team, they went 16 of 20 (80 percent) from the free-throw line. Junior guard Brady McNabb credited his team for their foul shooting and called those “game-winners."
Leaders for the Bearcats were senior forward Antonio Gore with 12 points and McNabb with four assists.
The Bearcats will be off for a week, their next game will be away against Logansport on Friday, Dec. 9, at 7:30 p.m.
Coach Ullom wants to use this time off to improve his team.
“We’ll take a couple of days, but we need to get some work on our offense and our offense behind our defense,” he said. “So, we'll take some time to do that.”
Contact Zach Carter with comments at zachary.carter@bsu.edu or on Twitter @ZachCarter85.
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