KEUKA PARK, NY - No matter how great a game, the unfortunate bottom line is that one team will walk away victorious while the other group will depart having come up short.
Amidst 17 ties and lead changes, the Crimson Eagles found themselves on the losing side of a 64-60 down-to-the wire thriller with Keuka College Saturday afternoon. Neither team would lead by more than seven throughout the contest in the type of epic battle that features big play after big play and a "what you do I'll match" type mentality.
Despite shooting 53.3 percent from beyond the arc for the game including a six for nine effort in the first half, the Crimson Eagles couldn't overcome Keuka's duo of Forest Woodley and Raquan Banks who combined for 32 points, 14 boards, eight assists and five steals to split the series with PBU on the year, 1-1.
After going down 6-3 to start the game, the Crimson Eagles opened up a 12-6 lead after a 9-0 run. Keuka responded by slowly whittling away at the PBU gap over the ensuing nine minutes, and with 5:05 remaining, tied the game at 22-all.
Sparked by an 8-2 run the hosts would go up by six with 2:45 left in the first period, but PBU remained poised and managed to pull within one before the break.
With the score notched at 32-31 to begin the second stanza, both teams struggled to create any type of separation as both squads went blow-for-blow over the first seven minutes. With 12:37 left to play and the scored tied for the fifth time at 42-42, PBU set out to take charge. Seven straight points capped by a Dan O'Brien triple put the visitors up 49-42, their largest advantage of the game.
Unphased, Keuka responded with an eight point spurt that put the host squad up 50-49 with 7:11 left in the contest. The see-saw battle continued down the stretch, as Dan Esbenshade's career high third three-pointer of the day tied the game a 60-all with 1:23 to play. A jumper by Raquan Banks put Keuka up by two with just over one minute remaining as two missed shots and two turnovers down the stretch ultimately doomed PBU.
The Crimson Eagles received a career game from Willie Miller as the sophomore guard out of Spring City, PA notched a career high 21 points on four of five shooting from downtown. Miller ended eight of fifteen overall from the floor all-while dishing out seven dimes and swiping two steals in 33 minutes of work. The fourth leading scorer in the NEAC, Tom Arthur, was limited to just 11 points - almost 10 below his average - but pulled down a game high 13 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season. Rookie Dan Esbenshade contributed a career high 11 points including three treys to go with four assists.
PBU will travel to New York next Friday evening to square off with Cazenovia College (10-11, 7-4 NEAC) at 8:00 pm, a team the Crimson Eagles fell to at home in their first matchup back in early December.
