Springfield’s Mike O’Donnell, left, seen in a game against Penncrest last year, helped lead a Cougars charge Tuesday night in a win over Haverford. (Pete Bannan – MediaNews Group)
By Matthew DeGeorge
The trombone’s sliding toot – the second one, the one that drew the technical foul assessed to Haverford’s bench during Michael Hoey’s free throw in overtime – could’ve soundtracked the general offensive performance at Jeunger Gymnasium Tuesday night.
Instead, it was the death wail of a trend that has bedeviled Springfield all season.
Behind Hoey’s suffocating defense, Springfield gutted out a 41-34 win in overtime at Haverford, their first victory of the season in a game decided by single digits. It came with the Cougars (7-10, 6-5 Central) shrugging off what for all the world looked like the story beats of a team destined to see its misery continue: A four-point lead evaporating in the final minute, around a pair of turnovers and the first basket of the game by Haverford’s Googie Seidman, banked in off glass with 2.7 seconds left.
But the Cougars persevered, upped their energy for OT and re-secured the shackles on the Fords by limiting them to two overtime points to banish their close-game demons.