MIDWAY, Ky. - After a dominant regulation from
Amari Wales helped get Midway to overtime, his backcourt mate
Decoreio Smith took over in the extra period to lead the Midway men's basketball team to a third-consecutive win.
Wales tied his career high with 35 points, while Smith scored 10 straight points in an overtime period in which the Eagles held Lindsey Wilson scoreless, pulling away for a thrilling 83-69 win at Marshall Gymnasium Tuesday night.
Wales finished the night 13-of-21 from the floor and 5-of-7 from 3-point range, his biggest shot coming with 27 seconds left in regulation.Â
Just six seconds after a Julian Cunningham layup gave the Blue Raiders a 69-66 lead, Wales raced down court, got his defender to go under a ball screen and hit a tying triple from the top of the key, forcing overtime after the Midway defense got a stop on the other end.
Also finishing with a game-high nine rebounds as well as three steals and two assists, Wales put the final touches on the win with a fast break dunk for the evening's final points in overtime.
That dunk capped a dominant five-minute stretch led by Smith, who had 10 of his 17 points in overtime, starting with a 3-pointer off a Wales assist with 3:26 remaining.
Over the next 2:21, Smith added two rebounds, a blocked shot, a jump shot, two free throws and another 3-pointer, one of the 12 Midway made on 22 tries.
Against a team that had averaged over 87 points in a 4-0 start entering the night, Midway forced Lindsey Wilson to shoot 0-of-10 from the field in overtime.
Sam Parrish led all players with five assist while he and
Oghenemaro Egodotaye had a game-high three blocks for a Midway team that blocked eight shots as a team to improve to 3-1 for the first time in program history.
Tuesday was the first of four-consecutive games against the Mid-South Conference, with two more coming this weekend. On Friday, the Eagles will take on Bethel (Tenn) at the Central Bank Jim Reid Classic in Georgetown at 6 p.m.
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