By Cody Marshall, Sports Reporter

GALWAY–Ever since the winter sports season began, many people have expressed their doubts in this year’s basketball team. However, many WAC schools were probably doing the same. Heading into Wednesday night’s contest with their rival Mayfield Panthers, the Galway Golden Eagles were 0-5. Meanwhile, the Panthers were 3-1 and looking to keep pace atop the WAC North. However, Galway came out on fire, scoring a season-high 25 points in the first quarter to take a 25-12 lead through one period of play.

The second quarter proved to be tough for the Golden Eagles as they had one starter in foul trouble and others were tiring as a result of the fast pace of play. Mayfield outscored Galway 18-7 in the second quarter, but the Golden Eagles held on to a 32-30 lead halfway through. Knowing the third quarter would be a crucial part of the game, Galway came out ready to keep Mayfield at bay, taking a 34-30 lead and looking to hold on. However, when the period was finally over, Mayfield outscored the Golden Eagles 15-14 to make it a 46-45 game heading into the final frame. Galway went on a 9-3 run to put the Golden Eagles up 55-48 before Coach Toby Youngblood called a timeout that might’ve taken some momentum away. From there, Mayfield went on a 10-1 run to take a 57-56 lead with just over a minute to go.

With under a minute to go, Mayfield brought the ball up and Cody Marshall fouled Thom Perham as he was bringing the ball up the court. On the following possession, Mayfield came away empty, and Galway got the ball back. However, Evan Ceroalo was called for traveling with 17 seconds to play. From there, Galway had to foul in order to have a shot to win. Shane Marshall fouled Thom Perham to put him at the line with 9 seconds to play. Perham’s attempt missed the mark and Jamie Freebern cleaned the glass and passed the ball off to Shane Marshall, who hit Evan Ceroalo on the sideline. Ceroalo then found Cody Marshall on the opposite side of the court and Marshall’s desperation drive resulted in a foul called on Mayfield forward Anthony Buseck on a shooting attempt with 3.7 seconds remaining. Cody Marshall went to the line shooting two and hit the first one with ease, as the Galway student body roared in the gym. Then, as Marshall received the ball for his second attempt, an inadvertent buzzer sounded and they had to take the ball back. Once everything was settled, Marshall relaxed and swished the second shot through as the fans went insane. Galway was back on top 58-57 as Brian VanOstrand called timeout to give his team a last second play to try to win. However, the inbounds play resulted in Ryan Hennessy getting the ball around half court, and his half court shot was tipped just enough by Nick Manna to give Galway the upset victory.

Cody Marshall finished the game with 19 points in the contest. Jamie Freebern led the Golden Eagles with 20 points on the night. Nick Manna and Evan Ceroalo chipped in 7 points each, and Shane Marshall rounded out the scoring with 5 points. The Golden Eagles (1-5) will now travel to St. JOE on Friday to take on the Saints (1-4) with the hopes of keeping pace in the WAC North standings. Meanwhile, Mayfield (3-2) will have a home contest on Friday against WAC North leader Canajoharie (4-1).