Southern outlasts FSK, 68-63, in 2 overtimes

Dec. 17—CUMBERLAND — Rarely does a team both overcome a huge deficit and blow a sizeable lead late. It's even rarer for that team to leave with a win.

Southern came all the way back from a 13-0 hole to start the game, and with under a minute to play in overtime, the Rams seemed primed for victory up by eight points.

Led by Jordan Fulmore, Francis Scott Key had its own version of the Miracle Minute to force a second overtime, but, miraculously, Southern didn't fold.

Isaiah Keller and Jared Haskiell hit key free throws late, and Landon Grady came up with the winning defensive play as Southern defeated Francis Scott Key, 68-63, in two overtimes at the Franchise Classic on Saturday.

"We dug ourselves a hole early, but we didn't panic," Southern head coach Tom Bosley said. "We had young kids and inexperienced guys do things down the stretch that we needed to. We listened, we paid attention, we just didn't execute at times. That will come with experience and the more we play."

It would've been easy for Southern (1-1) to fold when Francis Scott Key drilled four 3-pointers in the first quarter and scored the game's first 13 points.

Or when Fulmore sunk a turnaround jumper at the buzzer to force overtime tied at 48. It was a gut punch after Southern seemed to come up with the necessary play to win, as Jared Haskiell made a game-saving rejection in transition with 15.8 seconds left after a Rams turnover.

"They hit everything they needed to get it to overtime," Bosley said. "I thought 21 (Fulmore) for them played very well."

The adversity didn't end there. Keller struck fire in overtime, hitting three straight buckets to build a Southern lead. Haskiell drained a pair of free throws to make it 58-50 with under a minute remaining.

A Fulmore 3-pointer pulled FSK within 58-53 with just 19.2 seconds left. Southern missed both foul shots on the other end, and an Aiden LeFaivre trey cut the deficit to two with 9.7 seconds on the clock.

Southern left the door open by splitting on the charity stripe, and Fulmore made them pay with another dramatic buzzer-beater, leveling the tally at 59-all with a 3-pointer.

The Rams' self-belief never wavered.

"They were confident in the huddle," Bosley said. "The kids weren't concerned. It was almost like, 'We're still gonna win it. We're still gonna win it.' They kind of felt like they knew they could."

Francis Scott Key took its first lead since the fourth quarter on a Tristen Finnegan put-back with 1:24 remaining in the second OT, but Keller flipped the lead in Southern's favor with a pair of foul shots with 45.3 seconds left.

With the clock dwindling, Fulmer — who finished with a game-high 29 points — searched for a final dramatic bucket, but Grady came off his man and stole possession.

Haskiell was a perfect 6 for 6 at the free-throw line during the overtime periods to ice the game, pushing his game total to 19 points, and FSK ran out of heroics to come up short in the second extra period.

Keller was the high scorer for Southern with 28 points — 22 of which came after halftime.

"Isaiah is Isaiah," Bosley said. "He's a gym rat. He loves to play the game."

For much of the first half, an overtime period, let alone two, seemed scarcely possible.

Braeden Haven drilled three 3-pointers before halftime and LeFaivre added two, as Francis Scott Key took a 19-8 lead after the first quarter.

Southern wasn't getting much in the way of offense, but the Rams continued to hang around. By halftime, FSK's margin stood at just 25-20.

A key difference between Southern's 52-50 defeat to Brunswick a week prior and Saturday was the Rams' defensive rebounding, which held up despite the 6-foot-5 Haven and 6-foot-3 Fulmore on the other sideline.

"We were much better defensively because we put bodies on people when we didn't in the past," Bosley said.

Jack Healy was one of those forwards that came in and provided an impact on both ends of the court. Offensively, he sunk a pair of 3-pointers after halftime as part of his 10-point outing.

Fulmore hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the third to give FSK a 34-26 edge with 2:30 left in the period, but Southern responded with a 16-2 run for a 42-36 lead midway through the fourth.

Haskiell picked up his fourth foul with 3:47 in the fourth, making Bosley sub his pure-shooting sophomore in and out of the line-up the rest of the way. It worked, and Haksiell never fouled out.

While Francis Scott Key hit the necessary shots to force overtime and did the same to prompt a second, Southern would not be denied of their first triumph of the 2022-23 campaign.

After winning what felt like several ballgames packed into one, Southern will hope for its second victory of the year when it hosts Keyser (3-1) on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

Alex Rychwalski is a sports reporter at the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @arychwal.