With the shot clock and game clock nearing zero, George Jensen heaved a three-point shot from the wing and banked-in the game-winning three-point shot to give the #2 seeded De Smet Bulldogs an exciting 41-38 win over the #7 seeded Gregory Gorillas in the opening round of the State B Tournament in Aberdeen on Thursday, March 15th.
The two teams were locked in a close battle throughout the day. The score was tied at just 2-2 after the first two minutes of play. Gregory finished the quarter on a 7-1 run for a 9-3 lead going into the second quarter. De Smet started the second quarter on a 7-0 run to take a 10-9 advantage and ended the second quarter with a 23-18 lead.
After the Bulldogs extended their lead to 27-20 early in the third quarter, the Gorillas finished the quarter on an 11-0 run and led 31-27 going into the fourth quarter. Gregory still led 33-31 with 3:12 to play in the game. The Bulldogs went on a 5-2 run and led 36-35 after a basket by Trace Van Regenmorter with 3:00 to play. Gregory took the lead 38-36 with a three-point shot with 1:30 to go. Two free throws by Kadyn Fast with 1:01 remaining tied the game 38-38.
A stolen pass with about :37 left in the game gave De Smet a chance to win. The Bulldogs decided to call a timeout with :12.7 on the game clock and :11 on the shot clock. Jensen took a pass from Tom Aughenbaugh near the top of the key with about :06 to play. He dribbled to his left and banked-in the three-point shot from the wing right before the shot clock expired. Gregory called timeout with :01 remaining. Their inbound pass hit the scoreboard hanging from the ceiling as they attempted to get a pass to the other end of the court. That was ruled out of bounds, and the ball was awarded back to De Smet to run out the clock.
The Bulldogs shot 35% (15-43) from the field overall, 29% (5-17) from three-point area, and 6-8 from the free-throw line. Gregory finished the game shooting 41% (16-39) overall, 23% (3-13) on three-point shots, and 3-4 from the free-throw line.
Jensen finished with 14 points and six rebounds. Fast also had 14 points with three rebounds and two assists. Britt Carlson had seven points. Augenbaugh finished with four points, and Van Regenmorter had two points, five rebounds, and two assists.
