Coman’s last-second free throw leads Hendrix to OT win at Berry

Hendrix Athletics
Keith Kelley, Director of Athletics Communication

ROME, Ga. – After narrowly falling to the Oglethorpe Stormy Petrels in double overtime two days ago, Hendrix looked to climb the Southern Athletic Association standings with a pivotal meeting against the Berry Vikings from Rome, Ga. Sunday afternoon.

Once again, the game was tied after 40 minutes after Berry tied the game up at 51 after a jumper in the paint. In overtime, a successful and-one play by Seth Stanley turned a Hendrix three-point deficit, 59-56, into a tie game, 59-59, with 33 seconds to go.

On the ensuing possession, a missed jumper by Berry resulted in a defensive rebound by Sean Coman and was fouled a few seconds later. While Berry was in the double bonus, Coman drained his first free throw with 1.6 seconds left in overtime, nothing but nylon; giving Hendrix the 60-59 lead.

Coman missed the second one and forced Berry to take a tough shot that resulted in a 60-59 huge Hendrix win. The Warriors moved to 8-6 on the season with a 2-1 mark in the SAA while Berry has its then-program-best eight-game win streak snapped and falls to 11-3 on the season with a 2-1 mark in conference.

Stanley tallied 27 points and a team-high eight rebounds in 43 minutes of work.

“I am incredibly proud of our guys today,” head coach Thad McCracken said. “They bounced back from a tough and exhausting game Friday night and responded with a great road win this afternoon. Our defensive effort was tremendous and the guys hung tough and found a way to make enough plays down the stretch to pull it out.”

Hendrix returns to Conway to take on Birmingham-Southern Friday at 8 p.m. from Grove Gymnasium.