Peter Filipovity’s potential game-winning half court heave bounced off the front of the rim as time expired, leaving the USU Eastern Eagles just short of the No. 25 ranked Snow College Badgers 82-80 in overtime Thursday night at the BDAC in Price.
Trailing by as many as 11 in the second half, the Eagles put together a furious rally to draw even and force the extra period. Trailing 70-68 in the final seconds of regulation, Filipovity grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed foul shot to tie the game and send it to overtime.
Despite falling behind by seven in overtime USU Eastern battled back once again, setting up the potential game-winning play. Needing to go the length of the court in 2.1 seconds, Filipovity’s last second effort came of an inbound pass from the opposite baseline.
“Our guys deserve a lot of credit. They hung in there and didn’t roll over,” said head coach Bill Evans following the setback. “When guys look up at the clock and are down six points with three minutes to go and throw in the towel you know you’re in trouble. I know we aren’t in trouble. We are going to keep fighting and we’re going to get better.”
After leading throughout the majority of the first half, the Eagles were faced with a two-point deficit at the break following a big Snow College run. The Badgers managed to expand on that lead, but could not put the Eagles away.
Julian Vaughns poured in a team best 20 points to go along with seven rebounds in 30 minutes off the bench to lead USU Eastern. Doing most of his damage inside the perimeter, Vaughns finished 6-of-9 from inside 22 feet, while also knocking down one shot from beyond the arc.
Jesse White helped pace the Eagles as he scored 19 points after finishing 5-of-6 from the three-point line. Playing in 28 of the 40 minutes, White stuffed the stat sheet by adding five rebounds and three assists.
Nearly every major statistical category was even in Thursday’s conference thriller. The one glaring advantage for Snow College came at the free throw line where the Badgers shot 16-28, outscoring the Eagles who finished 12-19.
“We fouled too much and we didn’t get fouled enough,” said Evans. “I thought the referees did a great job tonight. We did get to the foul line 19 times and we have to do a better job of making free throws.”
Snow College received a stellar shooting performance from Matt Norman who scored a game-high 21 points, 18 of which came from the three-point line, to help his team improve to 2-0 in league play. Norman also managed to move the ball for Snow as he ended with five assists and six defensive rebounds.
Norman was one of four Badgers to reach double-figures. Ross Reeves chipped in with 17, while both Travis Wagstaff and Tredyn Christensen finished with 13.
Now 0-2 in conference play, the Eagles will look to rebound with a road game Saturday afternoon against the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls. Saturday’s tilt will be the first of two straight road games, with the second coming on Thursday, Feb. 18 at Salt Lake Community College.