By Jackson Posey | Sports Writer
Sometimes, prayers get answered. Thursday night, it happened twice in seven seconds, as No. 13 Baylor hit back-to-back contested 3-pointers to complete an 18-point, double-overtime comeback win over No. 22 St. John’s in the Baha Mar Hoops Bahamas Championship, 99-98.
“Everybody came together, everybody’s bought in,” said fifth-year guard Jeremy Roach, who scored 20 points and hit the game-winning buzzer beater in double-overtime. “I think that’s the biggest thing. Give credit to the guys, give credit to the coaches. Just a big-time win.”
Rick Pitino’s squad shot out of the gates. St. John’s scored seven straight to open the game, stifling the Bears’ offense behind the defense of Zuby Ejiofor (22 points, 10 rebounds, five blocks) and RJ Luis, who combined to notch two blocks and a steal in under three minutes of game time. Baylor head coach Scott Drew used his first timeout at the 17:14 mark in the first half.
Roach finally put Baylor on the board with an isolation scoop-and-score late in the shot clock. But St. John’s continued pouring it on on the other end. The Red Storm scored 24 points in the opening nine minutes on an efficient 9-for-12 shooting (4-5 from beyond the arc), swinging the ball around the Bears’ short-lived 1-3-1 zone defense and taking advantage of small-ball lineups with Ejiofor (6-foot-9, 240 pounds), who scored eight points in his first eight minutes.
“Coach Pitino schematically always puts you in tough situations,” Baylor head coach Scott Drew said. “But at the end of the day, guys gotta make shots, and they did a great job going 14-for-24 [from three].”
Robert O. Wright III (17 points, 4-for-5 on threes) served as the microwave, draining his first three shots from beyond the arc. He pushed the pace in transition and consistently collapsed a long, physical defense, but his contributions weren’t enough to counter the overpowering offensive onslaught. The Red Storm shot 58.6% from the field — and a staggering 8-for-11 from three — in the first half.
It was a masterclass in modern three-true-outcomes basketball: all 44 of St. John’s points came from beyond the arc (24 points), inside the paint (18) or at the free-throw line (2). No low-percentage jump shots to be found.
The Bears closed out the half giving an isolation possession to Bahamas native VJ Edgecombe, who’d been held scoreless with three turnovers. After 25 seconds of dribbling atop the key without any separation, he drove and kicked to Wright in the corner. The late-clock 3-pointer was swatted out of midair by Deivon Smith, who seemed to float through the air towards the freshman guard. The Red Storm closed the half with a 44-30 lead.
Edgecombe finally got on the board five minutes into the second half, handling a kick-out from fellow freshman Wright to sink a spot-up 3-pointer from the right wing. The five-star freshman struggled early on, missing his first five shots and committing four turnovers before joining a massive Baylor run.
In just under 7 and a half minutes, the Bears sliced a 16-point deficit to three, as a busted pick-and-roll coverage left Josh Ojianwuna all alone in the paint for his first points of the game. Roach and Norchad Omier (game-high 24 points, 10 rebounds) combined for 16 of Baylor’s first 19 points to open the half.
With under four minutes to play, Jalen Celestine hit his third 3-pointer of the night to cut St. Johns’ lead to two. Omier cut it to one at the free-throw line. A minute later, Wright did the same from beyond the arc. And with 3:32 remaining, two free throws from Celestine tied it up for the first time since 0-0.
With a chance to pull ahead, Jayden Nunn’s stepback mid-range jump shot hit front iron. As the errant rebound caromed across the court, a heads-up dive by Edgecombe — who slid several feet after securing the loose ball — gave the Bears a second breath. Nunn took it again, pulled up on the right baseline and drained it. With just 2:30 left to play, Baylor took its first lead of the game, 74-73.
St. John’s’ Kadary Richmond hit the second of two free throws to knot it up at 74-all. Roach stepped back on the left wing and drained a contested 3-pointer to put the Bears back on top. The Red Storm again missed a free throw but managed to wrestle the rebound to a jump ball. Fifty seconds remained between the Bears and a berth in the championship round.
Edgecombe pushed the ball inside, hunting for a dagger in front of his home fans. His teardrop floater rolled up and out — and, eventually, ricocheted off the head of St. John’s Aaron Scott and bounced out of bounds.
The Red Storm were forced to foul. Roach missed the first half of the one-and-one, and Richmond went coast-to-coast to drop in a tough floater reminiscent of Edgecombe’s. Seven seconds from glory, the Bears beat the press to find Edgecombe open in the left corner. With triple zeroes on the clock, his buzzer-beating 3-pointer rattled out, sending the game to overtime at 77-77.
Initially, the final frame looked to be all Bears: Nunn hit Omier on the block for an easy bank shot and Roach converted a difficult finish inside to give Baylor its biggest lead of the game. After he briefly left the game with an apparent leg injury, Edgecombe returned to the game to throw down a transition dunk — but upon landing, hopped off the floor clutching his left hamstring. (After the ensuing St. John’s timeout, he returned to the floor for one more defensive possession before subbing out for Wright.)
Both teams struggled mightily from the line, combining to shoot 25-for-45 in the second half and overtime. The Red Storm’s woes continued as Richmond clanked one off the front iron. Edgecombe returned again with 25 seconds to play to rebound against Richmond. But this time, the former Seton Hall star sunk both free throws to tie it up at 86-86, and Roach’s last-second fadeaway jumper from the foul line hit nothing but air. Double-overtime.
“The irony is, we do free throws at the end of shoot-around — both ends were perfect,” Drew said. “Nobody missed. And we shoot 60% in the game. So free throw shooting, I’m telling you, you can’t coach it.”
Smith immediately put the Red Storm on the board, earning a quick bucket off a too-strong opening tip by Omier. Edgecombe answered, skying in for a putback. Luis hit a three; Wright hit a driving layup. Back and forth, the pendulum swung. Scott drained a deep three on the left wing. Wright, who came into the game 9-for-10 from the charity stripe, drew a foul and hit one of two free throws. So did Roach, who converted 84.4% of his tries for Duke last season.
Wide open in the left corner, St. John’s swung the ball to Wilcher, who drained the team’s third 3-pointer of the period to go up five. On the other end, Nunn connected on one of two shots from the line, the third straight Baylor guard to do so. The next possession down, Omier went to the line and missed both shots. Baylor, with five missed free throws in double-overtime alone, trailed St. John’s by four, 97-93.
It looked like all she wrote in Nassau. But Edgecombe heaved up a contested prayer with six seconds left, hitting paydirt from beyond the arc for the second time on the night. The Bears fouled, down one. And after a lengthy review, Ejiofor missed both free throws, giving Baylor a chance at one last possession as time expired.
“I felt at the end of the game it was highly unethical to go to the camera on a BS make-up and icing my free-throw shooter,” Pitino said. “Highly unethical and the referees should never let it happen.”
Omier hauled in the rebound and threw a quick outlet pass to Roach. The fifth-year guard raced downcourt and launched a tightly contested, buzzer-beating 3-pointer over Smith, who earlier blocked Wright’s 3-pointer to end the first half.
Swish.
Roach’s shot caught nothing but net. Triple zeroes graced the scoreboard beneath the final, 99-98, as the Bears snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.
“Just closing,” Roach said of his mindset going into the final play. “I had two free throws to put it up to four in regulation, I missed the first one, but my teammates had my back, they had confidence in me and I just wanted to make a play.”
It was a statement victory in Nassau. The Bears will play the winner of No. 11 Tennessee and Virginia Friday night at 8:30 p.m. in the final round of the Baha Mar Hoops Bahamas Championships.
“Jeremy’s a winner,” Drew said postgame. “Players trust him, we trust him. Make or miss, proud that we battled back to have that chance.
