Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
© St. Petersburg Times, published January 9, 2002
TAMPA -- One of the good things about Jesuit's game tonight against Osceola is that it comes more than three days after its last one, giving the Tigers plenty of time to recover. The last time Jesuit took to the court, it was Saturday night and Auburndale was the opponent. When the game finally ended, it was a whole lot closer to Sunday morning than anyone anticipated and Jesuit found itself a 99-91 victor after five overtimes.
"The most amazing game I've ever been a part of in my 22 years of coaching," Tigers coach Neal Goldman said. "We were playing them close, then we had a chance to win. It was thrilling to me. Then we were tied at the end of overtime. It just became unbelievable."
The game began at 7:45 p.m. and didn't end until 10:15, a length that could have been shortened if not for a couple of cramps and some fourth-overtime weariness.
"We had a shot to win it in the fourth overtime but we missed a layup," Goldman said. "When we missed the shot, I looked out there and I had four kids lying on the floor exhausted."
The Tigers outscored the Bloodhounds 10-2 in the fifth overtime to earn the win, their 11th in a row since losing 81-61 to Auburndale on Dec. 1.
Alan Schonbrun went 17-for-17 from the free-throw line to score 34 points and James Bunn added 35.
The pair of guards played all but 2 or 3 minutes of the game, Goldman said, who had two players break 30 points in one game for the first time.
The Tigers finished the game 33-for-37 from the line, bringing their weekend free-throw total to 45 of 53.
"It's something I'll probably never be in again," Goldman said.