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Boys Basketball: Mundelein’s Chino Ebube beats buzzer, Lake Forest
Updated: January 26, 2012 10:09PM
Chino Ebube tipped in Sean O’Brien’s missed shot at the buzzer to give visiting Mundelein a 70-69 victory in overtime over Lake Forest on Thursday in a North Suburban Lake game.
The Mustangs’ (19-4, 6-1) win sets up a winner-take-all battle at Warren on Saturday. Warren also has one division loss and no other team is a factor.
Lake Forest (10-8, 3-4), had its five-game winning streak snapped, but the Scouts’ loss wasn’t for lack of effort.
In fact, the Mustangs actually were lucky Ebube was even on the court at the end.
Down 69-68 after the Scouts’ John Hayes hit a floater with 12 seconds left, Mundelein called a timeout with 3.3 seconds left.
When the Mustangs next took the floor, Ebube was on the bench. It wasn’t until Lake Forest then called a timeout that Mundelein assistant coach Corey Knigge suggested Ebube be inserted and go straight to the hoop for a possible tip-in.
And that’s exactly how it worked out.
O’Brien drove baseline, but he didn’t have a good look, which is where Ebube came in.
“Sean was trying to score, but coming out of the timeout, he told Chino that if he had a bad angle, that he was going to put it up on the rim and that Chino should tip it in.” said Mundelein coach Richard Knar.
Ebube, a junior, was thrilled to contribute to a huge win.
“I feel so ecstatic,” Ebube said. “I had to make up for the missed rebound on the free throw. I just had to get to the rim.”
Lake Forest tied the game at 58-58 when freshman Evan Boudreau rebounded a missed free throw and scored when Ebube didn’t block him out in the final minute of regulation.
Robert Knar (game-high 34 points on 12-of-26 shooting, including 8-of-15 from downtown) missed just before the buzzer.
Hayes led the Scouts with 23 points. Boudreau had 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Thomas Durrett scored 13.
“We tried to put a little quicker lineup in there (on the final play) and it backfired on us,” said Scouts coach Phil LaScala.
Mundelein led by as many as 14 points (45-31) in the third quarter.
Lake Forest’s biggest lead in overtime was four points.
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