Marian Catholic tops T.F. South boys basketball team in overtime thriller

LANSING | On "Turn Back the Clock Night," the clock worked overtime.

So did Marian Catholic and T.F. South on Tuesday as Marian Catholic came away with a 54-52 overtime win over the host Rebels in a game played at South's Gray, or old, gym. The Rebels played their home games there until the 2005-06 season, when the Red gym opened.

With fans dressed in 1970s garb and ’70s music played, the sideshow was almost as exciting as the game.

Marian's Tyler Ulis scored with 25 seconds left in overtime, and South missed two potential game-tying shots as time ran out. Ulis played to the crowd, taking off his jersey and showing it to the South student cheering section.

"It was all in fun," Ulis said. "They were giving it to me pretty good and my shots weren't falling, but we won the game and that is all that counts."

Ulis had a game-high 27 points and was 12-of-14 from the free-throw line.

The Rebels (13-8) had a chance and called a timeout with 14.7 seconds left. Donald Hardaway missed a 15-foot jumper from the right wing and Paul Pierce rebounded, but his shot missed as time ran out. Hardaway finished with 12 points, and Pierce 11.

"I had a good look, but it just didn't fall," Hardaway said. "Paul had the second chance and same thing."

Ulis said he wasn't sure if the Spartans (13-8) could have played another overtime.

"No, not really," Ulis said. "Great game, but I am spent. We left it all on the court."

Ulis scored 11 points in the fourth quarter as Marian came back from a 38-31 deficit. His 3-pointer with 2 minutes, 40 seconds left in the fourth quarter gave Marian a 46-45 lead. T.F. South's Robert Ryan made the second of two free throws with 1:09 left to tie it at 46, where it stood until overtime.

For the game, Marian was 20-of-30 from the line, while South (13-8) was 11-of-19.

"We missed some free throws and that definitely made a difference," South coach John O'Rourke said. "I thought we played good defense on them and took away some shots.

"We lost the game, but I am pretty happy overall with our effort and performance."

Marian did not make a field goal in the second quarter and went 11:36 without a basket. Ulis' jumper with 2:14 left in the third quarter was the Spartans' first field goal since Christian Halley hit a 3-pointer with 1:15 left in the first quarter.

"We missed a lot of shots, took some bad ones, but South also played good defense on us," Marian coach Mike Taylor said. "We needed this one bacause we have let close ones get away from us.

He credited Mike Peabody with playing well on the defensive side.

"Mike doesn't score a lot, but he sure can play defense," Taylor said. "Tonight, he did a nice job of playing defense."