Reeder's last-second fling sinks L-C
copyright The Trib

When Danny Reeder leapt from the Activity Center floor, he was searching for a body to fly into. The Westminster guard was hoping to generate a spectacular collision -- the sort of jarring blow that might make a referee toot his whistle.

But when Reeder couldn't find any nearby targets, he was left with only one option -- shooting the ball.

Plan B worked beautifully. With his team down by two points, the 5-foot-10 sophomore made a running, double-clutch 3-pointer with six-tenths of a second left to lift the Griffins to a stunning Frontier Conference victory Saturday night.

The 55-54 loss was a painful blow for the Lewis-Clark State men's basketball team. The Warriors either led or were tied the entire second half ... except for the final .6 seconds, of course.

"Well, what do you say? I thought we defended him pretty good," L-C coach Tim Walker said. "He hit a tough shot; there's no other way around it."

After going 13 months without a loss at the Activity Center, the Warriors have dropped two consecutive home games. They are now .500 for the season -- 12-12 overall and 5-5 in conference.

But throughout the second half, L-C seemed destined to stymie the 14th-ranked Griffins. After an anemic four-point effort in the previous game, junior point guard Jonathan Burnett pumped in 24 points.

Burnett's last two points came from the line with six seconds left. Those makes broke a tie, giving the Warriors a 54-52 edge.

The Griffins (18-5, 8-2) inbounded the ball to Reeder, who zoomed down the left side of the court. As he approached the 3-point circle, two Warriors came toward him.

"And I thought maybe I could try to draw the foul -- jump into somebody," Reeder said. "But I couldn't do that. So I shot it, and it fell."

Reeder jumped from outside the 3-point line, and his momentum carried him inside the arc before he released the ball. But the basket was still worth three points.

Although the Warriors had to inbound from under Westminster's basket with less than a second remaining, they actually got a decent look. Chris Pitts' long inbound heave found Charles Brooks standing on the 3-point line. Brooks soared over two Griffins for the ball, then turned and launched a jumper. But it rimmed out.

For a time, neither club could muster any clutch play. With the Warriors up 50-49, three minutes went by without a point being scored.

"If we could have taken advantage of a lot of opportunities there, instead of being up two or three in the last minute, we might have been up five or six," Walker said. "Obviously, that might have made a big difference."

The Warriors were at their best at the end of the first half. They closed that period with a 9-0 flurry in the last 2 1/2 minutes, which gave them a 32-29 halftime edge.

But all LCSC highlight were trumped by Reeder, who finished with 14 points and six assists.

"I've made normal shots, but nothing like that," he said of his game-winner. "I'm going to have to watch that on film and see what that looked like."

NOTES -- Reeder's bomb came from almost the exact spot on the court where Carroll's Jolene Fuzesy hit a game-winner from one week earlier. Fuzesy's 3-pointer with 4.6 second left lifted the Saints to a 58-57 win over the LCSC women.

WESTMINSTER (18-5, 8-2)

Ruiz 5-9 0-0 11, Sholly 0-7 0-0 0, Reeder 5-7 1-2 14, Barton 1-1 0-0 2, Booth 5-10 2-3 13, Holcombe 1-2 2-2 5, Jacobs 0-0 0-0 0, Olson 4-5 0-0 10. Totals 21-41 5-7 55.

LEWIS-CLARK STATE (12-12, 5-5)

Tikker 1-4 0-1 2, Pitts 2-8 2-3 6, Scarbrough 2-7 0-0 5, Bishop 2-4 0-2 5, Burnett 8-15 4-6 24, Durrett 4-10 0-0 8, Brooks 0-2 0-0 0, Thompson 0-1 0-0 0, Ward 0-2 0-0 0, Harris 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 21-55 6-12 54.

Halftime score -- LCSC 32, Westminster 29. Three-point goals -- Westminster 8-17 (Ruiz 1-4, Sholly 0-5, Reeder 3-3, Booth 1-1, Holcome 1-1, Olson 2-3); LCSC 6-12 (Scarbrough 1-3, Bishop 1-1, Burnett 4-7, Brooks 0-1). Rebounds -- Westminster 28 (Booth 10); LCSC 29 (Pitts 12). Assists -- Westminster 16 (Ruiz, Reeder 6); LCSC 9 (Bishop 3). Total fouls -- Westminster 14; LCSC 14. Technical fouls -- none. Fouled out -- none.