By By DAN WEISS / Niles Daily Star
NILES -- It took overtime, but the Brandywine varsity basketball team picked up its first win in Lakeland Conference play Friday night.
The Bobcats relinquished a 17-point halftime lead but held off the Shamrocks for a 78-75 victory to improve to 3-6 on the year and 1-4 in league play. Berrien Springs dropped to 2-8 overall and 1-5 in the conference.
Even without starting point guard Chris Carpenter and center Brett Shoemaker, who both sustained injuries during the week, the Bobcats put on quite a shooting show in the first half.
Brandywine opened up a 20-5 lead by the end of the first quarter and led 36-18 at halftime.
The Shamrocks came out with resolve to start the third quarter and held Brandywine without a single field goal in the period. The defensive intensity, however, resulted in eight fouls in the third quarter and the Bobcats made 11-of-14 free throws to maintain a slim lead.
Berrien Srings exploded for 23 points in the third quarter to cut the Brandywine lead to five at 47-42.
Both teams turned up the offensive efficiency in the fourth quarter, combining for 47 points. Shelby Wood made a pair of layups in the last 13 seconds of regulation to tie the game at 68 apiece and send it into overtime.
In the overtime period, Brandywine fell behind early but crept back in it and took the lead for good when Matt Weiger dribbled into the lane and was stopped by three Shamrock defenders, but found Andy Low cutting to the basket for an easy layup.
Jonathan Chansa made a 3-pointer with 14 seconds left on the clock to cut the lead to one point but a pair of free throws by Casey Udell gave the Bobcats a three-point cushion with six seconds remaining.
Ryan Williamson, who made two 3-pointers earlier in the game, missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Brandywine placed four players in double figures, led by junior Gene McDonald who scored a career-high 20 points. He scored 13 points in the fourth quarter before fouling out with 2:06 left in regulation.
Low added 19 points while Mike Beauchamp scored 14 and Udell scored 12 for Brandywine.
Williamson led Berrien Springs with 18 points. Wood and Jason Leitz added 15 apiece .
The Berrien Springs junior varsity beat Brandywine 67-40.
Brandywine hosts Bridgman Tuesday for another Lakeland Conference game.
Brandywine……….78
Berrien Springs….75 (OT)
Brandywine: Casey Udell 3 5-6 12, Justin Sobecki 1 3-4 5, Mike Beauchamp 4 6-8 14, Danny Rauch 0 0-0 0, Andy Low 7 2-4 19, Gene McDonald 8 0-2 20, Alex Newman 1 0-4 2, Mike Nagy 0 2-2 2, Matt Weiger 1 2-4 4. Totals: 25 20-34 78
Berrien Springs: Jeremy Eddie 1 0-0 2, James Lockett 3 2-4 8, Jonathan Chansa 1 0-1 3, Jason Leitz 6 3-5 15, Nolan Martin 1 1-2 3, Ryan Williamson 7 2-2 18, Shelby Wood 6 0-1 15, Ben Collard 0 0-0 0, Vince Ruhumuliza 4 3-6 11. Totals: 29 11-21 75
Brandywine 20 16 11 21 10--78
B. Springs 5 14 23 26 7--75
3-point shooting: Brandywine 8 (McDonald 4, Low 3, Udell), Berrien Springs 6 (Wood 3, Williamson 2, Chansa). Team fouls (fouled out): Brandywine 20 (McDonald), Berrien Springs 23 (Martin, Leitz). Team records: Brandywine 3-6 (1-4 Lakeland), Berrien Springs 2-8 (1-5)