Video Highlights

Lake 57, Louisville 55

The Louisville Leopards gave the visiting Federal League Champion Lake Blue Streaks all they could handle Tuesday in the Regular Season Finale. Blake Hoover’s buzzer-beating three-point attempt at the end of regulation fell just off its mark as Lake escaped 57-55. With the loss, Louisville finishes the regular season 12-9.

Hoover led Louisville by scoring 11 of his game-high 21 points in the final quarter as the Leopards furiously rallied from a 9 point deficit with just 1:40 remaining. Hoover began the rally with an old-fashioned three-point play to cut the deficit to 51-45. After a Blue Steaks bucket, Hoover connected on a shot from the right corner to get the Leopards within 6 again with less than a minute to play. Lake then hit a pair of free throws and Hoover matched the feat to make the score 55-49 Streaks.

The Blue Streaks were then called for an offensive foul on the other end and Bryce Mathie buried a three for the Leopards on the ensuing possession. Louisville trailed just 55-52 with 17.2 seconds remaining. Mathie would finish the evening with 13 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists.

That’s when disaster struck. The Leopard were called for an intentional foul on what appeared to be a typical late game foul. As a result, the Blue Streaks converted 1 of 2 shots from the line and got the ball back. On their next possession, they made the back end of 2 shots from the line to extend their lead to 57-52 with 16 seconds remaining.

Jake Pukys answered the call on the other end from NBA range to cut the game to a single possession at 57-55 with 7 seconds remaining. Without a timeout, the clock ticked down leaving the Leopards with just 2.7 seconds remaining and they made the most of them. Pukys charged in after the in-bounds pass, the ball deflected off a Lake player out of bounds, and the Leopards had the ball with with 2.4 seconds remaining. Their final attempt found iron, but their effort did not go unnoticed.

Louisville scored the first 8 points of the contest and led 18-16 after one quarter. Lake reclaimed a 26-24 lead at halftime and then used a 10-0 run in the third quarter to take a double digit lead into the final period.

The Blue Streaks were led by Spotelson who scored a team-high 19 and Alex Belinsky who hit 4 three-pointers and poured in 16. Lake is now 19-2 on the season.

Two key plays helped aid the Blue Streaks to victory. At the end of the third quarter, Chandler Vaudrin threw up a prayer from half court and it was answered in the form of Jonny Flower making a circus basket as the horn sounded. Belinsky’s final three-pointer with 3:21 remaining in the game was also a dagger as it gave the Streaks a 49-41 advantage and would be needed when the final score was tallied.

Before the contest, Louisville honored its 3 Seniors that included Bryce Mathie, AJ Minster, and Andy Minster. Leopard Nation would like to personally thank these 3 Seniors for all their hard work and great memories as Leopards! We wish them the best of luck in accomplishing all their goals and fulfilling all their dreams!

UP NEXT: The Leopards will next travel to Cuyahoga Falls to take on the Black Tigers in the DI Sectional Semifinals on Wednesday, February 26 at 7:00 PM.