Caesar Rodney Survives in Overtime to Defeat Glasgow

Glasgow's Charles Burley (#12) forces his way through traffic to score 2 points with less than a minute remaining in the game, giving Glasgow a shortly-held lead over Caesar Rodney. (Photo by Rob Tornoe)

It is axiomatic for one to say that superior guard play typically determines team success in tournament basketball. In the end, #5 seed Glasgow senior point guard Charles Burley’s superhuman effort (23 points, 11 rebounds) wasn’t enough to avert a 64-60 overtime loss to #1 seed Caesar Rodney on Thursday in semifinal action of the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association’s Boys Basketball Tournament at the University of Delaware’s Bob Carpenter Center.

Led early on by seniors Najee Rogers (16 points) and Hakeem Jones (4 points), the Dragons found each lead to be brief, and usually followed only moments later by a deficit. Glasgow’s inability to maintain a lead would haunt them throughout the game, and was due in no small part to the Riders’ twin towers—6’7” seniors Tyshawn Bell (26 points, 13 rebounds) and Lawrence Livingston (11 points, 11 rebounds, 8 blocks).

“When we had the lead, we didn’t control the game,” said Glasgow coach Shahid Perkins. “Burley’s a warrior, he just got in there and fought, but [Caesar Rodney] has good guards too, and they controlled the game when they had to.”

Though the Riders held a 25-23 lead at the half, and a 39-37 lead at the end of the third period, the stalemate was seemingly broken by Glasgow in the game’s (ostensibly) final period. The Dragons embarked upon an 11-2 run to start the fourth quarter, seven of which were scored by Burley, including a momentum-shifting coast-to-coast lay up that temporarily left Caesar Rodney in disarray.

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Trailing 49-42 with 3:30 left in regulation, the Riders, keyed by senior guard Jeff Hill (who scored 7 of his 12 points in the final 3:16), battled back to tie the game at 51 with 1:28 left to play. After the teams exchanged free throws, the score was knotted at 52 apiece with 1:05 left, and Glasgow was holding for the final possession. Working the ball along the perimeter, the Dragons once again relied on Burley’s ability to penetrate off of the dribble, giving Glasgow a 54-52 lead with :25 seconds remaining. That ended up being just enough time for Caesar Rodney, who patiently worked the ball down the court, running their half-court offense until a blown defensive assignment allowed Livingston an easy back door lay-up to tie things at 54 with only :02 left on the clock.

In overtime, the Riders opened the extra period with a 6-0 run in the first 1:37, and never looked back. The steady, intimidating interior presence of Bell and Livingston was maximized by Caesar Rodney, and though Glasgow’s Burley was able to narrow the score to 63-60 with :06 seconds left in overtime, a clutch free throw by Riders senior Bernard Carter (4 points, 2 rebounds) made it 64-60—a two possession game—with :04.seconds remaining in overtime, ensuring a Caesar Rodney victory.

“It’s all about the match-ups in the tournament,” said Glasgow’s Coach Perkins. “CR has that experience to know how to control the tempo at the right moment, and that was the big difference.” Pausing a moment to reflect on his team’s season, Perkins added “When we play someone, they’re gonna know that we’re there. We may not win every game, but we will play hard, and that’s what we did tonight and all season long.”

Caesar Rodney’s win advances them into Saturday’s DIAA Tournament Final against the #2 seed William Penn Colonials (21-4). Tip-off is at 4:00 pm at the Bob Carpenter Center’s Frank Acierno Arena.