COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Pirates come within 2.7 seconds of beating NWAC’s No. 2 team

PORT ANGELES — The final score won’t show it, but the Peninsula College men came within 2.7 seconds of knocking off the No. 2-ranked team in the Northwestern Athletic Conference.

Everett College’s Conner Moffatt hit a clutch game-tying 3-pointer with 2.7 seconds left in regulation, his second 3-pointer in the last 46 seconds of the second half, to send the game to overtime tied 84-84. Once in overtime, the Trojans blitzed the Pirates for a couple of minutes and Peninsula could not recover, losing a heartbreaker 101-88.

Pirates’ coach Mitch Freeman said it was an “awful overtime.”

“I think we couldn’t withstand how the game ended [in regulation],” he said, saying his team lost its composure in the overtime.

“We had the momentum in the first half. We looked really good at times,” he said, but that a lot of little things down the stretch, including too many unforced errors, cost the Pirates.

Before his two 3-pointers at the end of regulation, Moffatt had shot 1-10 from beyond the arc.

It was just that kind of game, full of wild swings of momentum and lead changes, especially in the second half.

Freeman said he was proud of the effort his young players made going up against one of the best teams in the NWAC. He said his players had trouble overcoming things they couldn’t control, such as the officiating. Peninsula shot just one free throw in the first half, while Everett shot 12 (making nine), one of the big reasons the Trojans were able to keep it close in the first half. Colby Jackson, who was on his way to a monster game, had to sit much of the second half with foul trouble.

Peninsula hit Everett right in the mouth early, with Jackson red-hot at the beginning of the game. Jackson and Kaelin Crane led the Pirates with 23 points each, with Jackson doing much of his damage early.

Jackson had 15 points in the first six minutes as the Pirates stormed to a 25-10 lead with 14:22 left in the half.

Peninsula withstood several Everett runs and a lot of fouls (Ten against Peninsula to five called against Everett) to take a 43-36 lead into the half.

In the second half, it was the Trojans’ turn to pop the Pirates in the mouth, but Peninsula responded.

The second half was 20 minutes of big runs by each team. Everett started the half with a 12-5 run to tie the game at 48-48. Peninsula responded with a 13-4 run to open up a 61-52 lead. The Trojans came right back with a huge 20-4 run, seemingly taking control of the game at 72-65 with 8:58 left.

But, despite Jackson being on the bench with foul trouble, the Pirates showed they were not done. They responded yet again, with Trent Warren doing much of the damage. Warren started the run with a 3-point basket and then a putback for another bucket. He and Crane, who was huge in the second half, blocked shots on consecutive Trojan possessions, then Warren hit another 3-pointer as part of a 12-2 run.

Peninsula was looking in good shape for a big upset when the Pirates’ Cameron Burton hit a 3-pointer with 1:12 left in the game to open up an 82-76 lead. Then came Moffatt’s two 3-pointers to pull the Trojans back into a tie.

Once overtime began, Everett hit Peninsula with another well-timed run, immediately hitting a 3-pointers and blitzing the Pirates 17-4 over the final five minutes.

Burton ended up scoring 12 for the Pirates, while Marky Adams had 11 and Warren 10 Eli’sha Sheppard came off the bench and scored seven points to go with eight rebounds.

Everett was led by Gio Jackson with 27 points and 13 rebounds. Markieth Brown scored 26, including 20 after halftime. Moffatt scored 20.

The good news for the Pirates is that all eight teams in the NWAC’s North Division are tied at 1-1 in league. The Pirates (1-1, 11-6) have a few days to recover from the heartbreaking loss as they next play at Olympic at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Everett 101, Peninsula 88 OT

Everett 36 48 17 — 101

PC 43 41 4 — 88

Everett (101) — Jackson 27, Brown 26, Moffatt 20, Strieby 13, Odom 11, Kelley 2, Grayson 2.

Peninsula (88) — Jackson 23, Crane 23, Burton 12, Adams 11, Warren 10, Sheppard 7, Buckley 2.