by RAVENNA, Ohio– It took an extra five minutes, but in the end, Dean Abdulrasul came away with the game-winning bucket to push Rootstown past Ravenna, 58-57.
“We just did a good job of finding a way to win,” coach Marlon Jones said after the Rootstown win. “It felt like we almost won it multiple times….we kept chipping away and ended up scoring one more point than they did.”
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On Tuesday night, Rootstown built an early lead that resulted from a defense that forced the Ravens to take uncomfortable shots. They led for most of the first quarter, building a double-digit lead that seemed to overpower the Ravens.
Up until the second quarter that is.
That’s when Curtis Ross flipped a switch for the Ravens. He often found himself attacking the paint while forcing a one-on-one matchup from the top of the key. That led to a slew of layups and eight second-quarter points that helped propel a comeback.
In fact, his team held the Rovers scoreless for the first five minutes of the second quarter and started the quarter on a 12-2 run that tied the game at 22 apiece. From there, Blake Mulally helped get his team back on track after finishing the first half with 14 points as the game was tied at 26 at halftime.
The second half was controlled by Abdulrasul. He did a good job attacking the Raven defense, especially driving to the hole where he often found himself at the free-throw line. With Mulally controlling the first half, Abdulrasul took the pressure off his hands and that was something the Ravens didn’t see coming.
“I felt like we missed some opportunities, especially in the second quarter,” Jones said about the way the Ravens came back for the majority of the second quarter.
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He scored seven of the team’s 12 fourth-quarter points, eventually putting them ahead late in the fourth quarter. As the Ravens did for the majority of the night, they responded. A 3-pointer from Sean Jordan tied the game at 52, eventually sending the game to overtime.
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From there, Abdulrasul scored all six of the team’s points in overtime, including the game-winning basket with two seconds left.
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Curtis Ross had a team-high 14 points for the Ravens in the first half. He finished the night with 17 points and that’s credit to the way Jones was able to lock down defensively and make second-half adjustments.
“Our guys did a pretty good job of adjusting,” Jones shared.
In the end, Mulally and Abdulrasul paced the Rovers, scoring 38 of the team’s 58 points during the win. As for the Ravens, Ross finished with a team-high 17 points followed with 16 points from Bryant Thompson.
