notre dame uses miracle to escape with fifth-straight win on hardwood
It certainly wasn’t a masterpiece but for those who took it in it was memorable as Notre Dame improved to 5-1 on the season after a borderline miraculous comeback against Toledo just to force overtime before winning in the extra frame.
Trailing by three with 6.8 seconds remaining Prentiss Hubb missed a free throw that was rebounded by Dane Goodwin who missed a put back before another offensive rebound by John Mooney and a quick kick-out found Temple Gibbs for the potential tie.
And Gibbs shot got stuck between the basket and backboard, forcing a jump-ball with just 1.5 seconds remaining.
The good news was that the possession arrow belonged to Notre Dame so they at least had a chance, which they would take full advantage of.
Nate Laszewski was shooting just 12.5% from beyond the arc entering Thursday night and at one point saw his season total dip to just 2 of 20 (10%) from three-point-range. He however stepped perfectly into the in-bounded bounce back and drilled the game-tying three as regulation expired, forcing overtime.
The Irish controlled things in OT as they didn’t allow a field goal until a meaningless, yet impressive buzzer-beater as the frame expired, escaping by the skin of their teeth with a 64-62 victory.
It was a night that very little went right for the Irish, shooting just 31.5% from the field and 8 of 35 from downtown (22.9%). Factor in going just 10 of 17 from the free throw line and the victorious escape is that much more stunning.
Goodwin led the way for Notre Dame with 16 points. Mooney who has been terrific this season missed Monday’s game against Presbyterian due to a stomach-virus and was just 3-of-11 from the field while scoring seven points.
Notre Dame returns to action Tuesday night when they host Farleigh Dickinson.
