By: Joey Daniels
GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) – The 2015-16 season-opener turned out to be a thriller for the Green Bay men's basketball team, but it came up just short on the road in overtime at Stanford on Friday night, falling 93-89 at Maples Pavilion.
The Phoenix (0-1) led by as many as 14 points and had the home crowd for Stanford (1-0) in silence midway through the second half, but a stretch of cold shooting and foul trouble paved the way for the Cardinal to escape in its home-opener. Green Bay led for a total of 27:18 in the game.
"We were hoping to come away with a win, but they just made a few more plays than we did. We had a chance to score six points on two fouls on threes, and we only scored one (point). I thought that was a big turning point there in the second half. If you hit those free throws -- we were up 2 or 3, and all of a sudden if it goes up to 7 -- then it's a different game,” head coach Linc Darner said.
Senior guard Carrington Love torched the Pac-12 foe for a career-high 32 points, including six made three-pointers and an 8-for-12 effort at the free throw line. Love seemingly hit big shot after big shot for Green Bay in both halves of play, but it was his backcourt mate Charles Cooper that showed up big in his Phoenix debut.
With Green Bay trailing by three and less than five seconds remaining in regulation, the athletic Cooper went to the rim, was fouled and converted the layup. He went to the free throw line with just over three seconds left and hit a clutch free throw to force OT. Cooper finished a perfect 6-for-6 at the line in the contest and finished with 19 points, the second-highest total of any other Phoenix player.
Stanford would go on to outscore the Phoenix 19-15 in OT, which was highlighted by a three-pointer from Rosco Allen that was gifted a friendly bounce with only 28 seconds remaining. That three-pointer increased the lead to five and the Cardinal would ice the game with free throws down the stretch, which added to the game's total of 70 free throws attempted.
Kerem Kanter added a career-high 12 points off the bench for the Phoenix, going 5-for-9 from the floor. Turner Botz contributed nine points in his first career start, while Kenneth Lowe, Khalil Small and Anthony Brown added four points each.
The high-pressure defense of Green Bay forced Stanford into 21 turnovers, while the Phoenix committed 17 of their own. Stanford won the rebounding battle 45-40.
The Cardinal were led by Christian Sanders, who scored a team-high 23 points. Five other players finished in double figures for the hosts.
"A lot of our guys got in foul trouble. For a segment of the game we got stagnant. Their best players made plays late in regulation and in overtime that they weren't making earlier. I was proud to see some of our guys step up down the stretch, especially Charles Cooper, with the three-point play to send it to overtime,” Love said.
"We've got a lot of season left, this is only Game 1. I feel like Stanford's going to be a good team in the Pac-12. We can only look ahead."
Green Bay will look to bounce back on Tuesday (Nov. 17), when it travels to Johnson City, Tenn., for an early morning tip-off at East Tennessee State. The Phoenix will face the Bucs at 5 a.m. CT as part of ESPN's 24-hour Season Tip-Off marathon live on ESPN2.
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