The Prague Post Online: Sports: Wagner beats the clock in huge win

October 12th, 2008

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Wagner beats the clock in huge win

Guard's heroic last-second shot leads USK to victory over rival Nový Jičín

By Dave Faries
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
January 9th, 2008 issue

With 10 seconds on the clock, USK Praha guard Lucious Wagner held his team’s redemption in his hands.

Just a moment before, Daniel Dvořák swatted at a Nový Jičín pass, knocking it astray. Wagner ended up with the ball, the score knotted at 89 apiece.

Three days earlier, Děčín had mauled USK 91-53, an embarrassing loss that cast doubt on USK’s ability to hold on to the league’s final playoff slot through the spring. And in this Jan. 6 contest, visiting Nový Jičín seemed likely to continue USK’s woes, building a 14-point lead midway through the second quarter.

Now, as 6 seconds remained, Wagner broke toward the lane but backed away when Jičín’s big men, Robert Šarović and Rostislav Pelikán, closed the gap. He glanced again at the scoreboard. Three seconds — Wagner peeled left, popped into the air leaning hard, trying to draw a foul, and put up an awkward shot.

Two, one, score: a dramatic 91-89 win, USK’s first over a top-tier team this season.

“I just knew I was going to shoot,” Wagner said. “I didn’t know how it was going to fall.”

The win gives the team a two-game cushion over Sadská in the standings — critical because USK next faces top-ranked Nymburk and Prostějov, now tied for second with Nový Jičín.

And it erases the memory of that ugly loss in Děčín.

“My team is not 45 points worse than Děčín,” said USK coach Ken Scalabroni. Even so, he was surprised at his squad’s ability to fight back from that fiasco and overcome injuries (center Muris Andelija and key role player Peter Rerko).

“I’m still not sure how we won,” Scalabroni added.

Down 52-39 at the half, USK roared to life in the third quarter. First Dvořák drained a couple of three pointers, then Wagner followed with a jumper and back-to-back treys. A forceful lay-up by USK forward Roderick Platt, covering for Andelija at center, brought Prague to within one, 62-61.

“Their shooting in the third quarter — Dvořák and Wagner — decided the game,” said Nový Jičín coach Zbyněk Choleva.

Yet the final period was a frantic tug of war, the advantage swinging rapidly back and forth. USK couldn’t contain Šarović (30 points), and reserve forward Juraj Gavlák hit a three pointer with 2:50 remaining to put Jičín on top, 85-81. USK responded with a driving one-hander by Wagner and free throws by Lukáš Kotas, knotting the score again.

Then, with just under a minute to play, Pelikán’s slam once again put USK at a disadvantage. Seconds later, however, a rare error by Šarović, hacking Dvořák in the act of shooting from three-point range, led to a tied score at 89 and the game’s dramatic conclusion.

Wagner finished with 26 points. Dvořák and Platt added 16 apiece for USK, which travels to Nymburk Jan. 12 before returning home for a Jan. 19 matchup with Prostějov.

As coaches often do, Scalabroni tried to curtail post-game enthusiasm with a dose of reality.

“It’s one win,” he said. “There are a lot more games to go.”

Dave Faries can be reached at dfaries@praguepost.com

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