Schaumburg coach Bob Williams knows there’s no such thing as a comfortable lead at this time of the year.
His players learned that lesson Tuesday night. The Saxons let a large lead slip away but still held on for a 60-54 overtime victory against East Aurora in front of a raucous crowd in Chick Evans Field House.
The Saxons made 11 of 14 free throws in overtime to advance to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history. Schaumburg (27-2) will play Rock Island (25-5) at 1:45 p.m. Friday at Carver Arena in Peoria.
“We’ve kind of taken a step up as far as our status, which means a lot to me as a coach,” Williams said. “But it’s all because of the effort of those guys jumping around over there.”
East Aurora (20-9) made the Saxons sweat before they could celebrate with the large contingent of fans that made the trek here. The Tomcats overcame an early 19-point deficit to take a three-point lead midway through the fourth quarter.
“I knew we would get back into the game,” East Aurora coach Bob Kivisto said. “Most really good teams . . . when they get down, they get back into the game. We’ve done that before. We just had way too many turnovers (15) in the first half.”
The same can be said for Schaumburg in the second half. The Saxons had nine turnovers in the third quarter and 14 in the half, allowing East Aurora to get back in the game.
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“I think maybe we got a little bit too overconfident,” senior Brandon Barber said. “We stopped playing for a minute. But we turned it on when it came down to it.”
Barber came through in the clutch, nailing a three-pointer with 34 seconds left in regulation to give Schaumburg a 49-47 lead.
Tarale Evans pushed the ball upcourt and tied the game on a layup with 19 seconds remaining. Schaumburg was unable to get a shot off, sending the game into overtime.
The Saxons scored the first five points of overtime–all on free throws–to take the lead for good.
Antoine McDaniel led Schaumburg with 17 points. Larry English added 12, including 6 of 6 free throws in overtime. Darius Lathen led East Aurora with 16.
“I said the game was going to come down to a couple of bounces and we just didn’t get them,” Kivisto said. “Forget about the start because we got back into the game. We just didn’t make the plays in the end.”