Days after a tough home loss to Clark Atlanta on Saturday, Edward Waters had a near carbon copy of that contest in their Monday night SIAC East home affair with Morehouse.
But this time, Edward Waters would come out on top, knocking off the division’s top team, 79-78, at the Adams-Jenkins Community Sports & Music Complex.
Edward Waters (8-9, 7-4 SIAC) and Morehouse (11-6, 9-2 SIAC) had a back-and-forth affair throughout the contest with each squad trading shots. The contest featured 13 lead changes and 10 ties, with each team trading opportunities with the lead.
The Maroon Tigers had a lead of as many as five points near the halfway point of the first half before EWU would come back to tie the contest at 31-31 with 3:49 remaining. Morehouse would ultimately take a 41-40 into the locker room at the half.
A 5-0 Tigers run to start the second half would give the good guys a 45-41 lead. Later, a 9-4 Edward Waters run would give them their largest lead of the contest at 60-53 with 11:42 left. Morehouse would methodically chop the deficit down and ultimately retake the lead at 71-70 with 4:05 left in regulation.
The Maroon Tigers added to their advantage and took a four-point lead at 78-74 with 2:23 left, but a Kristian Ford three-pointer would cut the MHC lead down to one at 78-77 with 1:41 left.
With 22 seconds remaining in regulation, a Morehouse foul would put Edward Waters in the double bonus with an opportunity to retake the lead. Freshman forward Amari Floyd knocked down both free throws to give the Tigers a 79-78 lead.
A Morehouse three-point attempt with one second left would clang off the iron and give the Edward Waters Tigers a thrilling one-point victory.
For the game, Edward Waters shot 40% from the floor on 24-of-59 shooting, including going 5-of-22 (22%) from three-point range. Edward Waters went an impressive 26-of-30 (86%) from the charity stripe.
Goliath Mitchell led a trio of Tigers in double-figure scoring with a game-high 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting while also adding five rebounds, three assists, and three steals to his stat line.
Kristian Ford added a near double-double effort with 19 points and eight rebounds, while Jeremiah Kwarteng finished with 15 points and six boards for the Tigers.
Courtesy: Edward Waters athletics