ADRIAN, Mich. -- Tony Jackson made the final shot of the game to send the Siena Heights men's basketball team to a 68-67 victory over Concordia in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference season opener, on Wednesday.
With four minutes left in the first half, the Cardinals led 30-19 over the Saints (3-1, 1-0 WHAC). In the final three minutes of the half, Jerrell Martin came in to change the momentum in the Saints' direction, making two blocks, grabbing three defensive rebounds, adding four points and an assist for SHU to make the halftime score 35-32 in the Saints' favor.
Siena Heights widened the gap to 12 points, making the score 56-44 with 11:18 remaining in the game. The Cardinals fought back, taking the lead from SHU with 2:32 left on the board.
After trailing by three points, Jon Hovermale evened the score at 66-66 with 1:48 left in the game. CUAA converted one free throw to take their final lead of the night at 67-66 with 1:00 on the clock.
A series of turnovers and steals wound the clock down to 18 seconds with the ball in the Saints' possession. With only five seconds on the clock, Hovermale missed a layup. He was forced to foul the rebounder Luke Diekevers.
After two missed free throws, the Saints had less than five seconds to score the game-winner. SHU inbounded the ball to Jackson who dribbled to the free throw line and sent a shot up, falling in for the win as the buzzer sounded and the crowd rushed the court.
Leading Siena Heights with a double-double was Martin, totaling 19 points and 13 rebounds, 10 defensive and three offensive. Martin added an impressive four blocks to help the strong SHU defense.
Jackson also scored in double-digits with 12 points and added six rebounds. With six assists, point guard Nick Randle helped run the SHU offense. Randle tallied four steals for the Saints.
Four different Cardinals (2-2, 0-1 WHAC) earned double-digit points. They were led by Jerald Booker with 15 points and Diekevers with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
As a team, Siena Heights shot 27-61 (44.3%) and went 11-18 (61.1%) in free throws. Concordia shot 22-51 (43.1%) overall and went 18-32 (56.3%) in free throws.
The Saints will be back in action when they host conference foe, No. 20 Indiana Tech on Saturday. The men will play at 7:30 p.m. after the women take on the Warriors at 5:30 p.m.
