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Kelly
99
Winner Northwest Florida St NWFS-M 11-0
93
Harford HARFORD 4-4
Winner
Northwest Florida St NWFS-M
11-0
99
Final
93
Harford HARFORD
4-4
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 OT 1 F
Northwest Florida St NWFS-M 44 43 12 99
Harford HARFORD 48 39 6 93

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Fighting Owls Fall to #2 Northwest Florida in Overtime Thriller

  • Tournament:  Monroe College Invitational Day 2
  • Final Score:  Harford Fighting Owls 93 -  #2 Northwest Florida State Raiders 99
  • Records: Harford 4-4 | Northwest Florida 11-0
  • Location: New Rochelle, N.Y.
  • The Short Story: The Fighting Owls went up against one of the best teams in the NJCAA and forced the game into overtime in an incredibly entertaining and hard fought contest. Harford led the powerhouse Northwest Florida Raiders for much of the second half before falling behind late, setting the stage for an insane three point buzzer beater by Martin Kelly Jr. as time expired to send the game into overtime where the Fighting Owls upset attempt fell just short.
  • Box Score: Click Here
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  • Video Highlights: Click Here

 HOW IT HAPPENED
  • Up against one of the powerhouse teams in the nation, the Fighting Owls were not intimidated early on as three pointers from Martin Kelly Jr. and Khalil Williams-Diggins had Harford up 12-9 early in the game on the back of a 7-0 run.
  • Karon Green took a fast break drive to the basket and was fouled as he converted the old fashioned three point play to give Harford an 18-15 lead.
  • After that the Raiders caught fire, making their next four shots in taking a 24-20 lead.
  • Green continued to have the hot hand as he made three from long range in the first stanza on his way to 16 first half points off the bench.
  • Isaiah Boggs was unstoppable going to the rim, with 16 first half points including 8-9 from the free throw line as Harford was 13-14 from the charity stripe as a team.
  • The Fighting Owls played phenomenal down the final stretch of the first half, riding an 8-0 run to take a 48-44 lead at the intermission.
  • Coming out of the break, the two teams traded body blows back and forth including a Batur Sahinoz tip in as he jumped over two Raiders to get his hand on the ball.
  • The Fighting Owls continued to attack the inside as Joshua Ortiz had back-to-back tough buckets in the paint as Harford maintained a narrow lead at 64-62 with 10 minutes left in the second half.
  • DeZ Brown put in a yeoman's work all game long, but picked up his fourth foul midway through the second half and was forced to watch from the bench.
  • Harford's hot shooting in the first half cooled off as they missed their first five shots from behind the arc in the second half before Williams-Diggins buried one with eight minutes left to regain the lead at 69-67.
  • Northwest Florida answered back with a couple of threes to take the lead back for the eighth lead change of the game.
  • With Harford down five and needing a big play, Kelly Jr. stepped up with a high arching three pointer followed by a Green layup to cut the Raiders lead to just one with three minutes left.
  • Boggs' fantastic game was concluded with 100 seconds left as he fouled out on a controversial call as Harford trailed by four points with two minutes left.
  • After Green made a couple of free throws, DeZ Brown forced a turnover on the full court press and made the layup to tie the game at 83-83.
  • Northwest Florida went up four points with free throws, but a Williams-Diggins free throw and a steal by Kelly Jr. gave Harford one more chance.
  • It was Kelly Jr. who got the ball in the corner and made a fade away three point shot at the buzzer to tie the game and send it to overtime in dramatic fashion.
  • The Raiders jumped ahead with the first four points of the extra period, and despite a clutch three pointer by Williams-Diggins to keep Harford close, Northwest Florida took command in overtime and saw off the incredible upset attempt by the Fighting Owls.
  • Karon Green scored 26 in his best performance in a blue jersey while Isaiah Boggs had 19.
  • Joshua Ortiz and Williams-Diggins each had 10 points while Martin Kelly Jr. made a valiant attempt at a triple-double with 15 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.
GAME QUOTES
  • Sophomore forward Karon Green on his game and the team performance as a whole: "We played great as a team today but fell short at the end. My team had confidence in me and was looking to get me the ball so I was really feeling comfortable out there today. I feel like this is the best game we have played all year because of the intensity that we all played with."
  • Sophomore guard Martin Kelly Jr. on his amazing last second shot: "There was five seconds left on the clock and I got the ball down three and I knew I had to hit the shot. When I first caught it I was trying to get an up fake and get fouled but he didn't jump. So I took a dribble and let it go. As soon as it left my hands I knew it was good. We played great today; we played as a team and played really good defense. We have a lot to work on, but I was happy to see how hard we competed today. It scares me how good this team could be if we were able to do this to the number two team in the country."
  • Head coach Mike Smelkinson on Kelly's game tying shot and the team performance in the game: "I wanted him to shoot the ball the first chance he had and I couldn't believe that he didn't let it go. I was scared that the time was going to run out but he was able to get it off and I just held my breath as it went in. I was proud of the team today, we competed hard we played really good defense for the most part and obviously the team we played today was really good. To be able to compete against a team like that is really promising. We definitely still have some kinks to work out, but it shows how good we could be taking the number two team in the nation to overtime and we are not even 50 percent of where we could and should be. When that happens we feel like the only team that can beat us is ourselves."
UP NEXT
  • Harford will complete their trek through the Monroe College Invitational Tournament in New Rochelle, N.Y. as they take on Cape Fear on Saturday, December 2 at 1 pm.
  • The Cape Fear Sea Devils are 4-4 on the season including a 106-68 win over Baltimore City in the first day of the tournament.  
 
 
 
 
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