With his team down by three points late in regulation, Cameron Boozer knocked down a 3-point shot while fading to the right from the right wing to knot things up at 55-55 with 16 seconds left in regulation. The future Blue Devil continued his clutch play in the second overtime period when he connected on an open 3-pointer from the left corner after his brother Cayden found him off his drive.
Top 25 Duke signee Cayden Boozer was a key cog in the win for the Explorers, contributing 20 points and eight assists against Gonzaga. (Photo: Carl Kafka)
Boozer connected on 4 of 4 free throw attempts, threw down a dunk on a backdoor cut and set up teammate
Caleb Gaskins for a basket in the third overtime period to account for eight of the Explorers' 13 points in the final period.
After going scoreless in the first half, four-star North Carolina signee
Derek Dixon sparked the
Eagles down the stretch by scoring 22 points after halftime while connecting on six three-point shots to keep his squad close throughout.
A back-and-forth first half of
action saw 10 lead changes as Gonzaga held an 18-16 advantage at the end
of the first quarter before maintaining a 29-27 halftime lead.
Cayden
Boozer provided a spark in the third quarter for Columbus as he opened
the second half on a personal 5-0 run and scored 10 points in the third
period to give the Explorers a 41-35 advantage headed into the fourth
quarter.
Dixon opened up the scoring in the
final period with six consecutive points on a pair of 3-pointer to
tie things up at 41-41. After trading baskets, Harvard pledge
Alex Touomou connected on his third 3-pointer from left corner to tie the
contest at 46-46.
The Explorers quickly
responded with a 4-0 run as Cam Boozer set up
Cello Jackson for a
driving layup before Cayden Boozer converted on another layup attempt to
make things 50-46.
Senior Cello Jackson scored a key basket later in the fourth quarter to give the Explorers the advantage. (Photo: Carl Kafka)
The Eagles were up to the
challenge as they subsequently reeled off eight consecutive points to
take a 54-50 advantage with 1:24 remaining in regulation.
Four-star Virginia Tech signee
Christian Gurdak
knocked down a mid-range shot before four-star Xavier signee
Nykolas Lewis and Dixon each
connected on three-point shots to spark Gonzaga's fourth-quarter run.
Following
two made free throws from Cameron Boozer, Gurdak split a pair of free
throws on the other end to open the door for Cameron to connect on a
tough 3-pointer fading to the right on the right wing to tie things
up at 55-55 with 16 seconds remaining to send things to overtime.
A
thrilling overtime period saw Columbus take a 57-56 lead on a contested
layup from Cameron Boozer before Dixon stepped back and knocked down a 3-pointer to give his squad the lead back at 59-59 with 2:29 to go.
Top 40 junior
Jaxon Richardson tied things up on the other end with a driving layup with
1:50 remaining before Cameron Boozer gave the Explorers a 61-59
advantage with 1:11 left.
Gurdak connected on a pair of free throws to tie things up on the other end to tie things up at 61 before both teams missed potential go-ahead shots in the final minute.
Gonzaga opened up the second overtime session strong as the Eagles scored the first five points of the period after Dixon connected on another 3-pointer before Gurdak tipped home an offensive rebound.
After a layup from Cameron Boozer cut the deficit back to 66-63, Gurdak tipped in another offensive rebound to put the Eagles back ahead by five points.
Cameron Boozer was the catalyst for the Explorers in their victory, scoring 20 of his game-high 29 points in the fourth quarter or overtime. (Photo: Carl Kafka)
After five-star junior Gaskins and Dixon traded two-point baskets to keep the margin at five, Cameron Boozer connected on 1 of 2 free throws to cut the deficit to 70-66 before Richardson converted an and-one through the foul to cut the deficit to 70-69 with 25 seconds remaining.
Following a pair of made free throws from junior
Saxton Simley on the other end with 15.9 seconds left, Cameron Boozer connected on his second game-tying three pointer of the contest with approximately 10 seconds remaining in the second overtime.
Cayden Boozer set up his brother on a back-door cut to give the Explorers a 77-74 lead in the final overtime before Dixon knocked down six sixth and final 3-pointer of the night after a bevy of moves on the left wing to knot things up at 77.
The Explorers defense was stifling down the stretch as they held Gonzaga to just two points over the final two minutes of game action, while converting on 8 of 8 free throw attempts down the stretch to seal the marathon victory.
Columbus (5-1) returns to the floor
against a pair of in-state opponents before a matchup against Archbishop Stepinac
(White Plains, N.Y.) precedes a trip to the City of Palms Classic prior
to Christmas.
Gonzaga (1-1) looks to bounce back when they return to the floor on Monday for a matchup against Blair
(Silver Springs, Md.) before hosting the Gonzaga D.C. Classsic where
they will take on St. Ignatius (Cleveland, Ohio) in their first round
matchup.
Top 60 Xavier signee Nykolas Lewis looks to help the Eagles capture the WCAC championship this season. (Photo: Carl Kafka)
