dugan@observer-reporter.com

Brody Jackson, a senior guard for Bethany College's basketball team, was wondering just how many chances to make a game-tying or game-winning shot a player can get in one night.

Jackson had four such opportunities late in the Bison's game Wednesday night at Washington & Jefferson but had nothing but frustration and leg cramps to show for his efforts.

With Bethany holding a two-point lead and 31 seconds left in regulation, Jackson, the Bison's top free-throw shooter at nearly 80 percent, missed the front end of a one-and-one that could have secured a victory. The miss helped W&J force overtime.

In the extra five-minute period, Jackson left the game briefly with leg cramps, quickly returned and missed two shots with Bethany trailing by a basket. Later, with W&J leading by three points, Jackson scored and was fouled on an inbounds play. He missed the ensuing free throw that would have tied the score for the 11th time.

Jackson, however, was given a fifth opportunity to make the game's defining shot. Left alone in the right corner, Jackson drained a three-pointer with 58 seconds left that gave Bethany a one-point lead and propelled the Bison to an 86-83 victory in a Presidents' Athletic Conference game at Henry Memorial Center.

"Brody is a gamer. He's had multiple game-winning shots for us," Bethany coach Aaron Huffman said. "He didn't let the misses get to his head. He's smart enough to know that he might get another shot and we'll need him to knock it down."

Jackson's clutch three-pointer came after guard Marcus Adams drove to the middle of the lane but was cut off by three W&J players. Adams alertly found Jackson unguarded deep in the corner and the basket gave Bethany an 82-81 lead.

"All I wanted was the ball at the end," Jackson said. "I was trying to stay positive. You can't change things in the past, so I was hoping for one more shot. There was some confusion in the lane when Marcus penetrated and he did a good job of finding me."

After W&J's Albert Varacallo missed a three-pointer, a pair of free throws by Jackson gave the Bison an 84-81 lead. Bethany (5-1, 10-7) still led by three when a desperation three by Varacallo missed with five seconds left.

The final minutes of overtime are certainly going to be replayed by W&J, which led by five points with 3:50 remaining. Down the stretch, the Presidents (3-3, 6-10) too often forced the action on the offensive end and only once got to the free-throw line.

"I can't fault our effort," W&J coach Glen Gutierrez said. "It was superb. The problem was, with 2:49 left we were still up by five, and the things we talked about in a timeout we didn't do. We took quick shots, hurried shots and bad shots. We had scored enough points to win. We needed to get the ball inside and get to the free-throw line."

The Presidents did overcome a 12-point deficit in the final seven minutes of regulation and forced overtime when Wahab Owolabi made an eight-foot jumper from the side of the line with 14 seconds remaining.

Jackson made only eight of 26 shots but finished with a game-high 26 points. He and Adams, who scored 23, were the only Bethany players in double figures.

Varacallo led W&J with 23 points and Owolabi scored 22. Josip Lucic-Jozak had 18 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Matt Drakeley had 14 points, including a key three-pointer in the final minute of regulation.

Notes

The Presidents shot 52.3 percent from the field. ... Bethany had a 21-5 edge in second-chance scoring. ... Joe Testa (Trinity) started for Bethany and had eight points and nine rebounds. ... Bethany's Jonas Ankrom (Canon-McMillan) came off the bench to score six points on two-for-three shooting from three-point range.

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