OREM, Utah—Marcel Davis hit the game-winning shot with 0.9 seconds remaining on the clock to give the Utah Valley University men’s basketball team a 74-72 win over the Chicago State Cougars Thursday night. Davis pulled down a defensive rebound with 30 seconds to play then brought the ball down court, dribbled the clock down, and made his move to the basket around a Dayon Goodman screen.
“I just jumped as high as I could and grabbed the rebound and went down the court,” said Davis. “Just waited for the clock to run down, Coach told Dayon to come set a screen, he set a good screen, I turned the corner and saw an open lane and just went and shot it. It’s an amazing feeling. I mean, these are shots you dream about.”
Konner Frey led the Wolverines on the night with 14 points, Marcel Davis and Ivory Young had 12 points each, and Jaden Jackson contributed 11.
UVU got into an early 16-8 hole by opening the game shooting 3-13 from the field. However, the Wolverines responded with a 21-2 run and took a 29-18 lead with 7:06 to play in the first half. The Cougars responded with their own run to close the lead to three points at the half.
UVU opened the second half with another quick 8-0 to open another 11-point lead, but CSU whittled the lead away to tie the game at 62 with 5:00 to play. Behind a pair of 3-pointers from Hayden Schenck and Cory Cardwell, the Wolverines took a brief 6-point lead inside 3 minutes to play, but the Cougars weren’t done fighting. CSU tied the game with a 3-point from Fred Sims Jr.
A missed 3-pointer by Jaden Jackson gave CSU a chance for a go-ahead basket with 1:00 on the clock. But only the second miss of the half by Anthony Eaves lead to the rebound by Davis, who took the ball down to the other end and scored the game-winning basket.
“So proud of these guys,” said UVU coach Mark Pope. “I mean it wasn’t pretty or anything. The first 12 minutes of the game I felt great. Even the first five minutes we missed shots, you could tell we were a little jittery, a little bit nervous…What it turned into was just our guys gutting it out.”
UVU hosts UMKC Saturday, Feb. 20, at 7 p.m. at the UCCU Center. The Wolverines beat the Kangaroos by a score of 90-79 in their last meeting in Kansas City, Mo.
