Patrick Whelan hit the second of two free throws with 7.8 seconds remaining to give the William Jewell men's basketball team a 69-68 victory over Missouri-St. Louis on Saturday afternoon. The win brings the Cards to 6-12 overall and 2-8 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
Whelan and point guard
Jorge Perez-Laham led the way for Jewell from tip to buzzer as each were in double-figures by the half. Perez-Laham opened the game with a jumper as Jewell built a seven point lead through the first 19:30 of the half before a shot by UMSL's Elijah Watson made it a 35-30 ball game at the break.
In the second half Jewell withstood a furious rally from the Tritons but only trailed once. The Cardinals built as much as a nine point lead at the 13:10 mark of the period after back-to-back three point plays from
Emil Ostafiiciuc and Perez-Laham. UMSL went on a run and tied the game at 53 and again at 64 with 2:23 to play. A jump shot from Watson gave the Tritons their only lead of the half at 66-64 before Whelan came down the floor and nailed a three point shot from the top of the key to regain the lead for Jewell at 67-66.
A foul put Watson back to line with nine seconds remaining where he tied the game at 68 after hitting both shots. However, UMSL fouled Whelan on the ensuing inbounds play to give the Cardinal junior an opportunity. Despite struggling from the foul line majority of the game, Whelan made the most important one of the night, hitting the second of two free throws to put the Cards up by one. The last second desperation shot by UMSL did not fall and the Cardinals walked away victorious.
As a team, Jewell shot an impressive 49 percent from the floor while committing just 11 turnovers while UMSL shot just 39 percent, including 27 percent from behind the arc.
Whelan led all scorers with 29 points on ten-of-14 shooting, including hitting four three point shots. Perez-Laham posted a season-high 25 points on ten-of-16 from the floor to go along with three steals. Ostafiicuic also posted nine points and nine rebounds.
