Sioux Falls played
like a team with nothing to lose Wednesday night at Wachs Arena in Aberdeen,
S.D.
The seven seed from the NSIC
South— the Cougars did all they could to pull off the upset against NSIC North
No. 2 seed Northern State.
But when Robert Goffney's
three-point attempt fell short at the buzzer, so did USF's hopes and its season
ended with a 63-60 loss to the Wolves.
USF ends the year with an
overall record of 12-15 (8-15, NSIC).
Goffney finished with a
career-high 23 points on 6-for-13 shooting, including 11-12 from the free throw
line. He scored the Cougars' first five
points in the game and had 14 in the first half alone.
Senior David Maxwell chipped
in 14 points and four rebounds. He finished his Cougar career with 989 points
and 522 rebounds. Classmate James Rader had four points and six rebounds.
Senior A.J. Holland, who was in foul trouble from nearly the opening tip, was
limited to two points in his final collegiate game.
It was an intense game
all-around, but the referees appeared to believe the teams perhaps took that
effort too far—43 combined personal fouls, 27 of which were charged to the
visiting Cougars. In addition, USF head coach Chris Johnson and NSU player
Collin Pryor were each given a technical foul and the Wolves bench was also issued
a warning.
Northern State led 4-2 at
the 18:16 mark but USF used a 9-1 run that was capped by Maxwell's
three-pointer to put the Cougars up 11-5 with 14:18 to play.
USF didn't trail for the
rest of the first half.
The Cougars forced six
turnovers in the opening period and held the Wolves to just 16.7 percent (1-6)
shooting from beyond the arc.
On the strength of going
7-for-7 from the free throw line (vs. 9-for-16 for the Wolves), USF held a
33-30 advantage at the half.
A different NSU team took
the floor after the break, as the Wolves opened the second half with an 8-0 run
to lead 38-33 with 16:37 to play. USF missed its first seven shots from the
floor before Maxwell hit two paint buckets in a row to end the Cougars' nearly
four minute scoring drought.
With 14:31 left to play, Goffney
hit a layup and Rader followed with a drop step on the right side to give the
Cougars the 41-38 advantage. The Cougars led 46-42 after Goffney's traditional
three-point play with 9:37 remaining, but the Wolves followed with a 7-2 spurt
to go in front, 48-47.
Northern State took its
advantage to seven points at 55-48, but USF continued to battle and closed the
gap to a single point with 1:18 left on the clock after Goffney hit two more at
the line.
The Wolves matched on the
other end and after Goffney missed the front end of a one-and-one with :37
left, they made one of two free throws to extend the margin to 62-58.
Holland tipped in a Derek
Brown miss and the Wolves led 63-60 with nine seconds left. The Cougars had the
ball in the right player's hands with a chance to tie, but Goffney's
three-point attempt fell just short.
The Cougars finished 38.2
percent (21-for-55) from the floor and 19 percent (4-for-21) from beyond the
arc. USF made 14 of 15 free throws attempts and edged the Wolves 37-31 on the
glass.
USF committed 15 turnovers
that the Wolves converted into 15 points. NSU shot 42.9 percent from the field,
2-for 11 from long range and 19-for-32 from the stripe.