Guard Mitch Cox, senior, was a gamechanger Wednesday night at UMSL. On top of the buzzer beating three-point shot that gave the Mustangs a one point lead going in to the second half, Cox stepped up big and nailed another; this time the game winner.
But the game wasn’t over.
After the Stang Gang went wild over Cox’s clutch shot, three seconds remained for Parkway North to send the game into overtime with a two, or bury it altogether with a three. The Vikings managed to get a shot off but it bounced out as the final buzzer sounded, prompting a stampede of Mustang fans onto the court.
“I wasn’t even sure if it was going in,” Cox said. “The plan was to get the ball inside but by the time it got down pretty late I decided to shoot and if I missed we’d still have a chance at the offensive rebound.”
But no rebound was necessary, because the shot went in put the Mustangs up 50-48.
“I didn’t really know what to do [when the shot went in],” Cox said. “My first instict was to get on the ball handler and guard him but they called a timeout. At that point we just had to make [Parkway North] take a tough shot without any fouls.”
When Cox made the last shot from the corner of the floor, forward Matt Hink, junior, said he was speechless.
“I was right under the hoop when he shot it,” Hink said. “I saw it go in and I just couldn’t believe it. We knew there would be some time left on the clock [for Parkway], but not three seconds – which is an eternity in basketball.”
Hink threw down 14 points against Parkway North to follow up his performance at Districts, which he said pumped for awhile but didn’t affect his mindset coming into Sectionals Wednesday.
“I gained some confidence after [Districts],” Hink said. “But after about two or three days, I had forgotten all about the game. I wasn’t playing to live up to anything, I was just playing.”
Hink said it’s time for the team to move on to the next game and stay focused on the road ahead.
“Now we just have to focus on CBC,” Hink said. “They’ve had a great season and I know it will be a tough game, but if we play our best we definitely have a chance.”
Cox said while he enjoyed the feeling of coming through when his team needed it, their work isn’t done.
“It just feels awesome to still be playing, to get another chance to go to Columbia,” Cox said. “We have to get focused and ready to play a good CBC team.”