CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. --Nik Rowland's prayer was answered Friday night.
The Poplar Bluff junior caught a rebound above his head as he was jumping away from the basket and got off a shot before his feet hit the court and the final buzzer sounded. The 14-foot shot lifted the Mules to another thrilling SEMO Conference win, this time beating Notre Dame 65-63.
"Came my way, right where I needed to be," Rowland said.
The Bulldogs overcame an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit, tying the game three times in the final 75 seconds. Tyler Landewee scored on a drive from the wing, leaving the Mules 6.1 seconds to go the length of the court following a timeout.
Senior guard Adrian Webb took the inbound pass and headed upcourt, crossing to the right side of the lane with a defender on his hip. His runner hit high off the glass, then off the hands of two Notre Dame players and Poplar Bluff's Rodney Houston right to Rowland.
"I knew we only had five seconds left, I just tried to attack," Webb said. "When I jumped in the air I was actually trying to get the ball to Rodney but they were coving him. I decided to pull up and Nik backed me up and made the shot. Thankful."
It was one off 11 rebounds for Rowland, who scored all four of his points in the final quarter on second chances. His first putback put the Mules up 11 with 5 1/2 minutes left.
"We could have easily gave that away," Mules coach William Durden said.
Poplar Bluff (12-8, 4-1 SEMO) opened conference play with a last-second basket to edge Cape Central two weeks earlier.
Notre Dame (12-9, 2-4) used a 15-4 run to rally, taking a 59-58 lead with 68 seconds left when Carter Dame split two foul shots.
Poplar Bluff's Dominique Hardimon, who had a game-high 26 points with 14 rebounds, was fouled rebounding a missed 3-pointer by a teammate and sank both shots from the line to regain the lead. The junior came down with a defensive rebound 14 seconds later and was sent to the line where he missed the first but sank the second for a 61-59 lead.
Dame scored on a back-door cut off a pass from senior Dawson Dohogne but Houston was quickly sent to the foul line where the Poplar Bluff senior hit both shots with 18 seconds remaining.
Landewee answered, tying the game and sending a homecoming crowd into a frenzy.
"Sometimes you've got to tip your cap," Notre Dame coach Paul Unterreiner said. "That's a play that might be made 1 in 50 times but the kid made the play."
Landewee scored 16 points to lead Notre Dame while Dohogne added 13 and Dame scored all but two of his 10 points in the fourth quarter.
Tyler Cline chipped in 12 points for the Mules while Houston and Xander Martin each scored eight. Martin left the game with an ankle injury midway through the third quarter.
Poplar Bluff sank 7 of 8 foul shots in the fourth quarter and 20 of 26 in all while Notre Dame, which came in shooting around 73 percent from the line, missed 13 and didn't get two more one-and-one shots.
"That's the difference in the game tonight," Unterreiner said.
Poplar Bluff led 12-7 after one quarter and built its first double-digit lead midway through the second with a six-point spurt. Neither team, however, scored over the next 2:45 and the Bulldogs cut their deficit to three before Hardimon beat the buzzer with a runner for a 28-23 halftime lead.
Notre Dame surged ahead early in the third quarter with 13 straight points behind five steals. Dohogne hit a 3 and scored in the post in consecutive possessions to put the Bulldogs up 36-30.
"I thought the third quarter we came out lackadaisical and they hit us with a couple of quick ones," Durden said. "They gutted it out and fought their way back."
Martin answered with a 3 at the midpoint of the quarter and the Mules were back in front nearly two minutes later on Webb's baseline drive. Hardimon scored the final six points of the third to put the Mules up 44-38.
Webb was left open for a 3 and Hardimon scored after a steal to put the Mules up 11 early in the fourth.
"That's when you're suppose to extend it and spread them out," Durden said. "Instead we got careless with the ball and they came up with some big plays."
NOTES
The Mules won the junior varsity game 47-36. Chance Campbell scored 12 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter for the Mules (9-5), now 3-2 in conference games. Notre Dame led 30-29 entering the fourth. ...The Mules were scheduled to play Jackson on Saturday after press time in a postponed game from Jan. 16. A story can be found online at www.semoball.com