With 59.3 seconds left, SFU is down 73–72 to the Montana State University Billings (MSUB) Yellowjackets, and junior Max Barkeley has two free throw attempts. Barkeley is in his first year with the Clan — a transfer from Victor Valley College in San Bernardino County, CA — and leads the team in points per game average. SFU only needs one of those attempts to successfully tie the game.
“I usually make [those],” said Barkeley after the game.
Instead, both are unsuccessful, and with 32 seconds left on an SFU foul, MSUB adds another point on the free throw, but miss on one attempt, still giving SFU a fair chance to tie it up or even take the late lead.
However, senior Michael Harper misses on a layup with 16 seconds left, and with only 1.8 seconds left, Barkeley misses on a three point attempt that would give SFU the lead. To add insult to injury, SFU is assessed another foul, and MSUB scores on both attempts, closing the game at 76–72.
A last second three-pointer buzzer beater attempt from Barkeley well out of range isn’t even listed on the official boxscore.
It was a heartbreaking finish for the 675 recorded fans who had come to the West Gym Saturday night looking for the men’s basketball team’s first win against a Great Northwest Athletic Conference team this season — and their first win of 2016.
“We did a lot of good things, it just seemed like we stalled at a few points. We never really got to the sharpness you have to be to compete in this conference — at this level,” said Barkeley. “We had a lot of chances late where we beat ourselves, so that’s where you look back and those are the plays where you have to look at each other in the mirror.”
Despite this, it was a great game. It was fast paced and back and forth, and SFU was in the game until literally the last second — they did not look like a team with an abysmal overall 1–17 record and 0–12 in conference play.
But “stalled” would be an accurate term to describe SFU’s offence for large periods of the game.
The Clan came out looking explosive in the opening minutes of the game, taking an early 4–0 lead, and not falling behind in scoring until four minutes in.
After a dominant first 10 minutes, however, scoring on both sides slowed down, with an abundance of whistles slowing the game down. With this slower pace, MSUB started to maintain the lead, at one point leading by five points.
But before halftime, SFU once again surged to end the half down only by one, by score of 40–39.
In the second half, the Yellowjackets once again took control of the game, building at one point an intimidating eight point lead. In other games, this might have been the point where SFU let the game become a lopsided affair after a reasonably even first half. In the previous game, for instance, the Clan lost 104–60, after being down only 12 points in the first half.
“We’ve had a lot of trouble going out and fighting back against teams,” said Barkeley. “We’re definitely the youngest team in the GNAC, and usually any team we play, we’re a lot younger all the way down the roster, so there’s just a different type of intensity you’ve got to bring; I thought tonight, we brought that for most of the time.”
Instead, SFU battled back and went on an impressive six point run, putting them down only two. With 9:18, the Clan tied the game 60–60 and were neck and neck the rest of the game.
Missed opportunities came to bite, however, and after a two point jumper by redshirt-sophomore Andrew Williamson to make the score 67–64 in SFU’s favour with 6:45 left, SFU didn’t make a single further field goal, only managing a measly five points coming in free throws.
The game marked Barkeley’s first game back after missing seven games after last playing December 31.
“I suffered a concussion earlier in the year, like in October, then I had another one like in November. I missed a bunch of class and I attempted to keep playing basketball, so it didn’t look good, it didn’t look right, on the NCAA’s part, so when I got a withdrawal from classes in the fall, SFU accepted but then it had to go the NCAA for them to see, ‘well okay, why did you keep playing?’” explained Barkeley.
“It got drawn over three weeks — every time I called, they called, ‘We need this now, we need this documentation,’ so it was a bit frustrating, but it tested my patience and I was lucky to have a lot of good people like Kelly Weber and Laura [Reid] up there, like I had a lot of people in my corner.”
Barkeley didn’t start the game but played the fifth most minutes on the team with 27 minutes on the court. When he came on to play, he made an immediate impact, bringing speed and energy, drawing fouls in the early part of the game. He finished with 13 points, good for third on the team.
“I felt good, my conditioning was fine. Everything felt fine, I got the shots I was going to get and I think a big part of my game is that — make or miss — I’m going to get in rhythm if I’m going to get the shots I usually want to get, but it sucks to miss both free throws,” he said.
“But that’s the way it happens, you know, that’s basketball, so we’ve got to live to see another day.”
