Box Score OAKLAND CITY, INDIANA – Saint Mary-of-the-Woods put together its best half of basketball this season Saturday at Johnson Arena, clawing back from 21 points down at Oakland City to claim a 89-84 victory. The monumental comeback is the Pomeroys' first River States Conference win in program history.
The Pomeroys were a galvanized group after Oakland City extended an 11-point halftime lead to 21 points just 4 ½ minutes into the second half. The Pomeroys tied the score for the first time with 5:50 left and took their first lead with 38 seconds to go.
J.R. Lumsden (Toledo, Ohio/Lakeland Community College), who didn't play in the first half, was a big spark in the second half along with Keith Germain (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Lakeland). Lumsden scored 12 of his 18 points during a 3-minute, 4-second run on the floor between the 13:16 mark and 10:12 mark of the second half to help his team begin to put a dent in the deficit.
First-year coach Mike Hunter coached Lumsden during his time at Lakeland Community College.
"We don't win that game without J.R. And he's been struggling a little bit," Hunter said. "I've seen him in the fire before. I know what he's capable of and I knew we'd get the chance to get him in the game and I can't say I saw that coming. That was a huge piece. We were having trouble scoring. He hit all his free throws. That was huge for us."
Lumsden had a determined approach in the paint as SMWC went to a smaller lineup much of the second half.
"Just staying the course. I came in the second half and had to be a spark off the bench and bring us back," Lumsden said.
Germain's second half was almost as impressive. The 6-foot-5 forward hit 10 of his last 11 shot attempts, scoring 17 of his game-high 27 points in the second half.
"We just tried to keep the energy up no matter if we're down 50," Germain said. "Everybody stepped up. Got my man J.R. back, (he) came up big in the second half. We just did what coach said, kept the energy up and stayed together as a unit."
The Pomeroys shot 60 percent (17 for 28) in the season-best 56-point second half. Sophomore Elkin Ramirez (Indianapolis, Ind./Providence Cristo Rey), who played through the winless RSC season in SMWC's inaugural season in 2021-22, hit all three of his 3-point attempts in the second half.
The Pomeroys made a 13-4 run in which Ramirez connected for a 3-pointer to get the deficit whittled down to seven, 67-60. Braden Edington (Terre Haute, Ind./Terre Haute North) connected on a mid-range jumper to keep it at seven, 69-62, with 8:41 to go.
Ramirez and Edington hit 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions and the SMWC deficit was down to two at 74-72 with 6:36 left. Germain knotted it at 74-74 on the next Pomeroys' possession with 5:50 left.
Still, Oakland City looked like it might have enough plays to hold on.
D.J. Redding converted a layup following a Drake Moore jumper and the Mighty Oaks were back ahead 80-76 with 3:49 remaining. Lumsden, who made 14 of 15 at the free-throw line in the second half, hit a pair of foul shots to get SMWC back within 80-78.
Germain hit a jumper and J.J. Evans hit 1 of 2 at the foul line after drawing a foul on a strong defensive rebound.
Oakland City's Tyquez Priester hit a pair of free throws to make it 84-81 for the hosts with the clock down to 1:27. Lumsden set up Germain for a jumper with 1:11 to go. After a defensive stop, Lumsden drew another foul and hit both shots to put SMWC ahead with 38 seconds remaining.
Evans hit two more free throws for an 87-84 advantage with 20 seconds left. Lumsden grabbed the rebound on a missed 3-pointer by Redding with nine seconds left and hit two more free throws.
The defensive effort in the second half was intense throughout the final 15 minutes.
"We just made a few adjustments. We were kind of falling back and not pressuring our man. We all communicated well. We rebounded, talked on defense. I'm blessed to have these guys on the team," Lumsden said.
Hunter made some adjustments with the lineup.
"We went a little smaller. Davin (Miller) was giving us good minutes. Dakota (Sampson) was giving us good minutes, but we went smaller. Keith is a heck of a rebounder so we could rely on him to play the 5 at 6-foot-5 and it worked out," Hunter said.
Rob DeSilvia had a big first half, scoring all 10 of his points in addition to tenacious defense.
"All week we were saying it's a big game. One through 15 contributed," Germain said. "Mar (Shermar Moss) came in hit a mid-range jumper. Rob hit a couple big shots. Just a full-on team effort."
Getting the first RSC victory was big. Hunter hopes it's the first of many.
"I just had to take a minute in the locker room to think about what it means. It's small beginnings. It's our first conference win but that can lead to a lot more. Stack them together. It's a big day. That's what we talked about before the game," Hunter said. "Even the guys that didn't play, I saw them grabbing water for their teammates. This team really likes each other."