By Joe Brunk:
The Purples took to the floor of EA Diddle Arena on Monday looking for another trip to the regional finals. Standing in their way would be Barren County, who the Purples beat by 20 earlier in the season. Playing in Diddle tends to make the path more difficult, and that certainly proved true tonight.
Bowling Green would get the first basket of the game, but Barren County would get two quick threes from Wade Coomer to take the early advantage. They would outscore Bowling Green 15-13 in the first. Bowling Green would storm back in the second though, ending the half on a 15-4 to take the lead 30-25. The Purples continued to keep control in the third, and extended their lead to double digits, up 52-40 after three. But the Trojans would not go down easy, coming back all the way to tie it up and even take the lead with seconds remaining. Kyran Jones would get to the line with six seconds left, and would make the first to tie it back at 60. But he would miss the second, and Wade Coomer would have a shot at the buzzer that would fall short, sending us to overtime. The Purples would get the first point from the free throw line, but the Trojans would get a quick basket to take control of the overtime period. Barren County would have a one point lead and head to the line with 15 seconds to go, but Nick Mabe would miss both shots and Terry Taylor would sink two from the stripe to take the final lead. A floater in the lane would bounce off the rim, and BG holds on with a 68-67 overtime victory! Terry Taylor had 20 points en route to being the player of the game.
The Purples will once again face Warren Central in the championship game tomorrow night! Who’s heading to Rupp? Find out by listening to PurplesNation.com!
