Despite 25 points from Jonathan McKinney, MEDDAC Team No. 1 found itself in an unfamiliar position after the opening round of the Postseason Commander’s Cup Basketball Tournament Monday at Smith Fitness Center: the loser’s bracket.
MEDDAC lost a narrow game to the 75th Ranger Regiment, 49-45. The tournament is double elimination and another loss means an early exit for MEDDAC, which finished second in the preseason basketball tournament in November.
Meanwhile, the Rangers found some much-needed momentum after starting the regular season 7-0 and then dropping their last three games. In two of those games, the Rangers lost by five points or less because of lack of depth and poor free-throw shooting. Rangers coach Sam Billins said that wasn’t the case Monday.
“The guys just seemed to have wanted it more,” Billins said. “They made a concerted effort to come in during their off-time to shoot free throws and it paid off tonight.”
The Rangers struggled to put MEDDAC away late in the game. Ahead 47-41 with under a minute remaining, Billins accidentally substituted in a player who had already fouled out, which resulted in a technical foul plus possession for MEDDAC.
“The referee identified him as having five (fouls) and I didn’t realize that he had five,” Billins said. “It was a coaching mistake. I hoped that the guys would just pull through on defense. Our defensive effort especially showed in that particular instance. The guys saved me on that.”
The result of the error was four quick points for MEDDAC, which had a chance to tie or win the game with 13 seconds remaining.
McKinney took the final shot for MEDDAC, a drive to the basket that did not draw a foul and the ball itself rattled in-and-out of the rim before the Rangers grabbed the rebound and hit two more free throws to seal the win.
“We just missed some easy looks and we just couldn’t finish them,” MEDDAC coach James Johnson said. “That’s what hurt us. We had a chance at the end to win it or at least go for the tie and we missed the shot. That’s the way it goes sometimes.”
Before the Commander’s Cup tournament started, Billins said the Rangers would have to find some way to put their late-season slump behind them and the win over MEDDAC enabled them to do just that.
“The guys are confident,” Billins said. “They really thought the losses were the result of not having everyone here and also the free-throw shooting. We had our core group here tonight and that’s what enabled us to eke out a win against a strong MEDDAC team.”
MEDDAC will be facing new sorts of challenges as it attempts to work its way through the loser’s bracket and Johnson still feels confident his team is capable of winning it all.
“We’ve just got to play one game at a time now, that’s all,” Johnson said. “We play (Tuesday) night, we’ll win that one. We’ll play the next night and just keep winning.”
