AUBURN, Ala. — With 20 seconds left in the game and Mississippi State clinging to a one-point lead, Shane Power stepped to the free throw line with the Auburn student section derisively chanting their nickname for him, “Screech,” and the demons of the Kentucky game dancing in his head. But in all of that pressure, Power found a source of inspiration in an old movie.
“On Thursday we watched the movie “Hoosiers,'” head coach Rick Stansbury said. “You know Shane is from Indiana,” and late in the game what better scenario than to have people on the bench talking about Jimmy Chitwood and there he is at the line.”
Those who have seen the movie know that Jimmy Chitwood hits his crucial free throws to win the state championship for his small Indiana high school. On Saturday at Auburn, Power sank free throws that secured a 73-68 win in front of 9,251 at Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum.
While Timmy Bowers wasn’t one of the ones calling out Jimmy Chitwood, he said that he had no doubt that Power would make his free throws.
“Shane’s a mentally tough guy,” said Bowers. “I knew when he got fouled he was going to go up there and knock them down.”
Power’s first two free throws gave MSU a 71-68 lead. After an Auburn timeout with 11 seconds left, the Tigers inbounded the ball and guard Nathan Watson set up for a three point shot from the top of the key. He pump faked and before he reloaded was fouled by Winsome Frazier.
The officials ruled that Watson was not in the act of shooting and awarded him a oneand-one free throw situation instead of three free throws.
“I was definitely holding my breath (when the call was made),” Bowers said.
Watson missed the front end of the one-and-one and Power grabbed the rebound and was fouled with 3.1 seconds left. He hit two more free throws to ice the game.
In a closely played game, Mississippi State (18-1, 7-1 SEC) took a 38-37 lead into the locker room at halftime despite star forward Lawrence Roberts playing only 11 minutes due to foul trouble. Branden Vincent picked up the slack, scoring 11 first half points.
“He’s probably the fourth option in what we try to get done (offensively) but when you have to have him do a little bit more for you, he’s very capable of doing it,” Stansbury said. “He helped us go into halftime with a one point lead.”
The second half was no different than the first. Auburn (11-7, 2-5 SEC) never led, but never trailed by more than eight points. Guards Watson and Lewis Monroe played their best game of the season, combining to score 29 points for the Tigers. They scored most of their points in the first half, shooting over the Dawgs’ 2-3 zone defense.
MSU switched to a man to man defense in the second half and shut the guards down, holding the tandem to eight combined points.
The Bulldogs outrebounded the Tigers 41-25, and collected 17 offensive rebounds.
“Their presence inside was dominant scoring, defensively and on the boards,” Auburn coach Cliff Ellis said.
Ellis also praised Roberts, who recorded his 12th double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
“This is the first time that I’ve seen him but he’s everything that they’ve talked about,” Ellis said. “He’ll be playing at the next level, there’s no doubt about that.”
The victory keeps MSU undefeated on the road this season.
“In the locker room they wanted to nickname themselves the “Road Warriors,” Stansbury said. “If that’s what they want to be called that’s fine. It’s very difficult to go on the road and win in this league, but our kids right now have tremendous confidence and poise.”
We knew their backs were against the wall,” Stansbury said. “Going on the road and winning is a very satisfying feeling and I’m just thankful I get the opportunity to share it with a bunch of road warriors.”