Blackwell Beats Buzzer, William Jessup In Final Seconds

Comeback bid falls just short following night

- (12/13/2005)

The men’s basketball team split a pair of Cal Pac conference game this past weekend as both games were decided on the final play.

The Red Hawks trailed William Jessup 26-23 at halftime and were down by five with just five minutes to play.  Simpson’s defense came to life as Ben Saunders (Sr., Alta) picked up a steal and CJ Martin(So., Sacramento) blocked a shot.  Both defensive stops ended in buckets by the Red Hawks, including a 3-pointer by Martin that put Simpson up 49-47.  

Simpson and William Jessup swaps buckets which set up a final play for the Red Hawks with the game tied 51-51.  Then, Jakob Blackwell (Sr., Roseville) took the game into his own hands as he drive right, drew a foul, and put home the game-winner with 3.4 seconds left.  Blackwell finished off the three-point play and finished with 14 points.

A night later, Simpson struggled to get going early against Pacific Union and trailed 17-36 by halftime.  Again, the Red Hawks were strong in the second half, erasing the 21-point deficit to tie the game with 24 seconds left. 

This time, the Pioneers hit a jumper with seven seconds left putting them up 55-53.  As the clock ran out, Simpson could not pull out the magic again and narrowly missed the game-tying buzzer beater.

The Red Hawks are abck in action as they travel to Bethany University and Menlo College for a pair of games this weekend.