BYU Falls at Overtime Buzzer to EA Sports
PROVO -- Despite 23 points from senior Eric Nielsen and 22 by sophomore Mark Bigelow, BYU fell to the EA Sports All-Stars, 84-81, in overtime Tuesday night at the Marriott Center.
"The most significant point of the game was the first 10 minutes of the second half," said BYU head coach Steve Cleveland. "We gave up repeated rebounds, didn't defend real well in transition and we didn't find our line (defensive positioning). Those are all fixable mistakes, but they were mistakes that contributed to our opponent's ability to build an 11-point lead."
Down three points late in the second half, Bigelow created his own shot with three seconds left and drained a three-pointer over EA Sports guard Bernard Rock to tie the game. The shot capped a 16-5 run for BYU and sent the game into overtime.
"The positives were that our team found a way to compete, to come back," Cleveland said. "I like that. For a young team they could have easily gotten beat by 20. But they didn't."
The Cougars won the tip in overtime and, after exchanging baskets with the All-Stars, found themselves tied with 8 seconds remaining. The All-Stars inbounded the ball and with time expiring EA Sports' Adam Spanich hit the game-winning three-pointer. Spanich, who played for USC, hit three of his four three pointers in the second half and overtime to finish the game with 12 points.
"It wasn't the three-point shot that beat us," Cleveland said. "It was the offensive rebound after the missed layup the possession before. If we get that rebound we probably win the game."
The Cougars struggled on the glass, as EA Sports outrebounded BYU 41 to 26. Neither team handled the ball well, as both teams combined for 55 turnovers.
"Twenty turnovers is obviously something we have to work on," Cleveland said. "For another, we're just not being strong with the ball. There were five or six strips resulting from not being strong with the ball."
Bigelow shot 8-for-11 on field goals, including 2-for-3 from three-point range, and a perfect 4-for-4 from free throw line. He also contributed on defense with two blocks and three steals. Bigelow was the 1999 WAC Freshman of the Year before leaving to serve a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Nielsen's game-high 23 points came on an 8-for-17 effort from the field. Nielsen, BYU's lone returning starter from last year's Mountain West Conference title team, took an average of 3.8 shot attempts per game last season while scoring 6.2 points.
Freshman Jared Jensen added nine points while junior Travis Hansen and sophomore Daniel Bobik each contributed seven points for BYU.
EA Sports was led by former University of Utah guard Tony Harvey, who had 16 points. Former Utah State players Bernard Rock and Maurice Spillers added 12 and 11 points, respectively. Spillers had a game-high 13 rebounds.
The Cougars return to exhibition play Saturday at 7 p.m. against the London Leopards at the Marriott Center.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICSEA SPORTS vs BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars
11/6/01 7:05 at Provo, Utah
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VISITORS: EA SPORTS
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
04 SPILLERS, Maurice... f 4-10 1-5 2-4 6 7 13 5 11 3 7 0 3 33
05 LALAZARIAN, David... f 3-5 1-3 0-0 1 0 1 4 7 1 2 0 0 25
44 HORTON, Jumoke...... c 4-8 0-0 1-1 5 2 7 1 9 0 4 2 1 35
02 ROCK, Bernard....... g 6-9 0-1 0-0 2 3 5 2 12 4 4 0 3 30
21 HARVEY, Tony........ g 7-12 1-4 1-2 1 4 5 2 16 2 2 0 2 31
03 WALDMAN, H.......... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 2 2 1 0 3 5 0 1 15
20 CALDWELL, Matt...... 2-4 0-0 2-2 1 1 2 5 6 0 5 0 0 15
23 BRADFORD, Nick...... 4-8 0-1 3-4 2 2 4 3 11 2 3 1 3 30
31 SPANICH, Adam....... 4-7 4-5 0-0 0 1 1 1 12 0 0 0 1 11
TEAM................ 1 1
Totals.............. 34-64 7-20 9-13 19 22 41 24 84 15 32 3 14 225
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-25 56.0% 2nd Half: 15-30 50.0% OT: 5-9 55.6% Game: 53.1% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-5 40.0% 2nd Half: 4-13 30.8% OT: 1-2 50.0% Game: 35.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 2-3 66.7% 2nd Half: 5-6 83.3% OT: 2-4 50.0% Game: 69.2% 1
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HOME TEAM: BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
03 BIGELOW, Mark....... f 8-11 2-3 4-4 0 3 3 1 22 3 4 2 3 33
25 NIELSEN, Eric....... f 8-17 1-1 6-7 0 3 3 2 23 0 5 0 2 40
42 CARLISLE, Jon....... c 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 0 2 1 2 0 1 0 0 12
20 BOBIK, Daniel....... g 1-3 1-3 4-4 0 2 2 2 7 2 3 0 0 23
31 MONTAGUE, Matt...... g 2-4 0-1 1-2 1 2 3 0 5 4 2 0 1 40
02 HANSEN, Travis...... 2-9 1-3 2-2 0 5 5 3 7 2 5 0 2 30
12 OPUNUI, Shawn....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
22 BALDERSON, Jimmy.... 0-1 0-1 0-2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 8
40 HOWARD, Dan......... 3-4 0-0 0-0 2 0 2 3 6 0 1 0 0 12
52 JENSEN, Jared....... 4-4 0-0 1-3 0 3 3 2 9 1 2 1 1 25
TEAM................ 2 1 3
Totals.............. 29-57 5-12 18-24 7 19 26 14 81 14 23 3 10 226
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-25 56.0% 2nd Half: 13-29 44.8% OT: 2-3 66.7% Game: 50.9% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-7 28.6% 2nd Half: 3-5 60.0% OT: 0-0 0.0% Game: 41.7% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 6-7 85.7% 2nd Half: 6-9 66.7% OT: 6-8 75.0% Game: 75.0% 3
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Officials: Scott Thornley, Mike Littlewood, Duane Allen
Technical fouls: EA SPORTS-None. BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars-None.
Attendance: 2487
Score by Periods 1st 2nd OT Total
EA SPORTS..................... 32 39 13 - 84
BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars......... 36 35 10 - 81
