Boys Basketball: Niles West tops Glenbrook South in dramatic fashion

Updated: February 10, 2012 9:21PM

It was going to take a furious comeback for Niles West to erase a 16-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter against Glenbrook South Friday night.

It took almost the entire period, but David McCoy completed an amazing rally when he hit the front end of a one-and-one with three seconds left to give the Wolves a dramatic 45-44 Central Suburban South victory in Glenview.

Victor Levi tried a desperation three-pointer for the Titans as the buzzer sounded, but it did not have a chance.

“I knew I had my teammates behind me, we do this (free throws) in practice all the time,” McCoy said. “It was not too different, except for the noise, which I was able to drown out, fortunately. I was trying to miss (the second attempt).”

Glenbrook South led 42-27 with just over five minutes left in the final period, but then Niles West closed the margin to 42-40 on three-pointer by sophomore Ahmad Gibson with 1:47 left to play.

The 13-0 run by the Wolves was also fueled by two three-pointers by Joe Younan and a long-distance bucket by Alex Darville (seven points). Younan also added a three in the first quarter and led Niles West (4-17, 2-7) with 15 points, despite not scoring second or third stanzas.

Gibson finished with 13 tallies, including a basket with 56 seconds left to cut the margin to 44-42. Gibson’s bucket was the start of a 5-point run that the Wolves used to close out the game, including a driving layup by Mohammad Qureshi, followed by McCoy’s winning free throw.

“We just have a group of guys that just will not quit,” McCoy said. “Fortunately, we started making shots, and Ahmad stepped up really big for us.”

The Titans (5-18, 1-8) had the ball in the closing seconds and the game tied at 44-44, but a layup attempt by Levi rimmed out with three ticks left, and McCoy (six points) was fouled as he corralled the rebound.

Jamie Nikitas knocked down a three-pointer with one second left in the third period to give Glenbrook South a 38-22 lead. The Titans limited Niles West to just one field goal in the third, while they exploded for 19 points.

Matt Siegel fueled the Glenbrook South run, scoring eight of his 10 points after the intermission. Nikitas, despite not scoring in the fourth quarter, led the Titans with 12 points, while Justin Busiel added six points.

“I think in the fourth quarter, they (Niles West) just took the momentum that we had,” Nikitas said. “They hit their shots on offense and got stops on defense. We just could not turn it around in the fourth quarter.”

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