Trailing by double digits midway through the third period, St. Cloud basketball teams of the past most likely would have faded away and got blown out.
But this is not your daddy’s Bulldog team. Falling behind 36-20 in the third period Tuesday, the Bulldogs scrapped, clawed and fought their way back for an impressive 59-58 upset home win over Lake Highland Prep to remain undefeated (5-0), despite trailing by seven with less than three minutes to go.
The winning basket came with 1.9 seconds left. St. Cloud forced a Lake Highland turnover under the Bulldogs basket with nine seconds remaining. Malaki Baker inbounded the ball to Alex Springs, who drove the lane, and passed to Ryan Rodriguez for a game winning layup. That play was the first lead for the Bulldogs since midway through the first quarter.
Surprisingly, the Dogs were rather subdued after the win – considering the victory came against a team that finished 24-4 last year and had won 35 of their last 40 games.
“It’s part of the culture we’re trying to build here,” Coach Tommy Billiteri said of his team. “We want our players to expect to compete in and win big games.”
Billiteri, in his second season, guided the Bulldogs to 19 victories and their first winning season in 20 years in 2023-24.
After a 7-7 first quarter that featured numerous turnovers, Lake Highland (3-1) hit three 3’s in the second quarter to pull out to a 24-20 lead. The first four minutes of the third quarter threatened to make the game a runaway. Rob Oskarsson started the period with a couple of quick three-pointers and a 12-0 Highlanders run made it 36-20.
But point guard Rodriguez took over the game. He scored 13 points in the final four minutes of the period Alex Springs added a couple of free throws to cut the gap to 44-34 heading to the final quarter.
Rodriguez scored six of the game’s next eight points to pull St. Cloud to within six at 46-40. The Highlanders maintained that lead for most of the quarter. That changed when Diomar Ortiz hit a three and following a Highlander turnover Baker nailed a three from the left corner to but the gap to 54-53 with 1:20 remaining.
With time winding down and the score tied 57-57, LHP’s RJ Ingram was fouled but hit just one of two free throws. A loose ball under the St. Cloud basket was last touched by Lake Highland and the Bulldogs had the basketball -- down by one with nine seconds to go. Billiteri called timeout and set up the final game-winning play, with Rodriguez finishing with the game-winner.
Rodriguez led all scorers with a game-high 24. Baker added 14 and Ortiz chipped in 10. Ingram (17) and Shiva Atwal (16) led Lake Highland Prep. It was a physical game that was strangely void of free throw opportunities. Neither team went to the charity stripe in the first half; while Lake Highland did not shoot a free throw until 6:13 remaining in the game.
St. Cloud returns to action Wednesday night when it faces Horizon (0-4).
