Junior forward Santos Martinez led the charge for the Sabers with 21 points and nine rebounds, including the go-ahead three pointer to put Barber-Scotia up 50-48 with 3:41 remaining in overtime. Senior Ronald Roundtree added 13 points and senior Phillip Hillstock had nine points, nine rebounds and a team high five assists. Barber-Scotia improves to 24-10 with the victory and will play a second round game Friday at 6:15 p.m. (CST) against either Langston University ( Okla. ) and Robert Morris College ( Ill. ).
The Sabers led just once in the first half at 2-1, as Union used a balanced scoring attack to head to the locker room up 27-18. The Bulldogs used a sweltering defense to take control, holding Barber-Scotia to just 24.2% shooting from the floor and forced nine turnovers in the first half. Union , which led by 11 points twice in the first half, shot 47.8% in the opening 20 minutes.
Barber-Scotia used a 9-2 run to open the second half to get the Union lead down to three, and took just their second lead of the day at 40-38 with 5:20 left on the clock. The Sabers and the Bulldogs traded buckets until the second half buzzer and went into overtime knotted at 47.
Union was led by freshman center Ben Frederick, who notched a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Senior guard Chima Abakwue added 15 points as the Bulldogs finish their season with a record of 24-10.
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