PORT ANGELES — The Peninsula College men’s basketball team battled back from an 11-point deficit and was literally one-tenth of a second away from making a trip to the Northwest Athletic Conference tournament when a desperation shot at the buzzer by Shoreline’s Sherrell McCullum trickled through the hoop for a 75-74 Dolphins’ win.
With that game-winning shot, so close to the buzzer that it had to be reviewed by the officials, Shoreline moved on to the NWAC tournament as the fourth-place team out of the North. Peninsula’s season came to an end with a 7-7 record in the North and a 13-14 record overall.
“I’m really proud of our guys,” said Peninsula coach Bryce Jacobson. “They faced a lot of adversity all year long. They represented the school and the community really well.
“Shoreline is a good team. They earned this. They’re going to put on a good show and make some noise in the tournament,” Jacobson said.
The entire second half was a nail-biter in what was a loser-out, winner-to-playoffs matchup. The Dolphins built up a lead of 31-20 at one point in the first half, but the Pirates kept pecking away at the lead, going into the halftime break down just 40-36.
Shoreline got the lead back up to 48-41 early in the second half, but again the Pirates surged, taking their first lead since early in the game on an Antonio Odum putback to make it 50-49 with 12:30 left to play.
From that point on, there were seven lead changes as neither team could build a lead of more than six points.
The Pirates went into the final minute up 72-70. Shoreline took the lead at 73-72 when Joel Amaro made a 3-pointer with 43 seconds left.
On the Pirates’ next possession, Peninsula missed a shot, but 6-foot-5 Akeem Sulaiman flew in among Shoreline’s bigger players and tipped the ball in for a go-ahead basket with 25.9 seconds left.
The Pirates played tough defense on Shoreline’s final possession. It appeared Odum might have won the game as he tipped a Shoreline pass away into the corner, but Shoreline was able to corral the ball before it went out of bounds. The Dolphins found McCullum open in the key for a shot from about 6 feet out. As the buzzer went off, the ball rattled off the rim, then off the backboard, then back onto the rim and in.
An inch or two difference was the difference between the Pirates going to postseason or staying home.
One stat that will haunt the Pirates during the offseason — they shot 1-for-6 from the free-throw line in the second half. Shoreline shot 10-for-14 from the charity stripe in the second half.
Isaiah Lopez and Jaiden Blackmon were both huge in the second half. Blackmon led the team with 19 points and 10 rebounds, with 12 of those points coming in the second half. Lopez scored 15, with 10 of those points in the second half.
Sulaiman had 14 points and four blocked shots, while Odum had 12 points and 10 rebounds. Cinco McNeal battled through a shoulder injury suffered in the second half for seven points and three steals, which included a crucial steal and bucket in the final three minutes.
Shoreline 75, Peninsula 74
Shoreline 40 35 — 75
Peninsula 36 38 — 74
Shoreline (75) — Amaro 26, McCullum 16, Holliman 16, Nickel 6, Peev 2, Dayman 2.
Peninsula (74) — Blackmon 19, Lopez 15, Sulaiman 14, Odum 12, McNeal 7, Rushmeyer 4, Rosenlund 3.
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Sports Editor Pierre LaBossiere can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or sports@peninsuladailynews.com.
