BENNINGTON, Vt. - The Southern Vermont College men's basketball team proved on Saturday night at the SVC Field House that it doesn't quit. But it also proved that a rally, like any play in hoops, only really counts if you finish.
Down by 27 points with 18:52 remaining against visiting Daniel Webster College, the Mountaineers came all the way back to lead by one point with 4.9 seconds left. Unfortunately, a costly foul and two successful Eagle free throws ended the Mountaineers' big comeback as they lost, 73-72.
"Sometimes you get close and come up short, but to get the lead in a situation like that and have it tip the other way made it all the harder," SVC head coach Mike McDonough said. "We said afterward that we couldn't think of a better example of how we could be successful, but we're not successful. It's right there before us, in black and white."
Behind a crowd of nearly 400 roaring fans - many of whom on campus to celebrate the opening of Hunter Hall the first building on campus in 17 years - SVC could not generate an offensive game in the first half. Junior power forward Joe Karnik scored 12 of the Mountaineers' 18 first half points as they dug themselves a 40-18 hole by halftime.
"We weren't together," McDonough said. "There was this real inability to involve each other in the offense, and that carried over to the other end of the floor as well."
The Eagles' leading scorer, Chris Hanson, made shot after shot to lead all scorers with 28 points, a dozen of which came from behind the three-point arc. Also contributing for DWC was Brian Inge, who posted 17 points.
The Mountaineers seemed to have the answer, though, with Ben Naaktgeboren (13 points, nine rebounds), Jaret Falkowitz (11 points), Brendan Kordana (10 points), and Cameron Herrington (eight points, 10 rebounds), coming on strong in the second half scoring a combined 36 of their 42 total points. Southern Vermont out-scored Daniel Webster 54-33 in the second half and turned what could have been a 30-plus point blowout into a legitimate conference showdown.
Joe Karnik had his second double-double of the week, finishing with 25 points and 17 rebounds. He went a staggering 13-of-16 from the line and also contributed two assists, two steals and a huge block that got the crowd on its feet.
The Mountaineer captain's play was all the more impressive considering that he suffered a significant neck sprain on a hard landing during a first-half put-back attempt. Karnik is expected to be absent from the SVC lineup in the immediate future, another setback for a team that has had no shortage of them this season.
"He's going to be down for a while; we're not sure how long," McDonough said. "We'd like to think that this will be the last of the adversity we'll have to face."
Karnik's steal with 6:16 left gave the Mountaineers their last spark in the game, as Falkowitz connected with Kordana in three-land to cut the Eagles lead to eight points with 6:02 remaining.
With both teams exchanging baskets, the Mountaineers cut the lead to three with a timely steal by Falkowitz with 56 seconds remaining. He laid it in for two, and with 42 seconds remaining SVC took its final timeout.
The Eagles came up empty on their ensuing possession, and Karnik snagged the defensive rebound. He quickly found Herrington, who laid it in for two and the one-point lead with 11 seconds remaining.
A costly foul by SVC with four seconds left gave the Eagles' Inge a chance to give his team back the lead, and he did so by draining both free throws. With time running out, Kordana had one more chance to give the Mountaineers the win, but with heavy defensive pressure he came up short from behind the arc.
DWC was in foul trouble for most of the game sending Southern Vermont to the line 30 times - and the Mountaineers capitalized by making 22 free throws on the day.
The Mountaineers face non-conference in-state rivals Middlebury College on the road on Tuesday at 7 p.m.