NASSAU – Jeremy Roach reached a Final Four and won Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season and tournament titles during four productive years at Duke.
It didn't take him long to create a memorable moment with his new team.
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Roach swished a 3-pointer at the buzzer of the second overtime on Thursday night, completing No. 13 Baylor's rally for an improbable 99-98 victory over No. 22 St. John's at the Baha Mar Championship on Thursday night.
Roach's fortunes changed quickly in his fifth game for Baylor (4-1). With 17 seconds left in regulation and the Bears leading by two, he had a chance to ice the game but missed the front end of a one-and-one.
“He said, ‘I’m going to miss this free throw so I can get a SportsCenter Top 10 play,’” Bears coach Scott Drew joked.
Meanwhile, St. John's coach Rick Pitino fumed about what he called “unethical” behavior by game officials and Drew, arguing that Drew baited the referees into an unnecessary replay review that disrupted free-throw shooter Zuby Ejiofor.
Trailing by two, Baylor fouled Ejiofor with 4.1 seconds left and he missed both shots to set up Roach's buzzer-beater.
“I don’t know what to say. The referees didn’t do a very good job tonight. Icing my free-throw shooter there at the end was totally unethical. You can’t do something like that,” Pitino said. “(The referee) said the coach said we held him, which we did not do, clear as day. It’s an unethical move. I don’t like it. But that’s not the reason we lost.”
The Red Storm blew a five-point lead with 18 seconds left in the second overtime. St. John's (4-1) also led by 18 points in the first half.
VJ Edgecombe made a 3-pointer to get Baylor within 98-96, and the Bears sent Ejiofor to the line.
“I just knew that if they’d miss the two free throws, I’d have a chance to redeem myself,” Roach said.
Norchad Omier, a Miami transfer who used to compete against Roach, rebounded the second missed free throw and passed to his new teammate.
Roach dribbled up court, weaved to create space, then squared up a few feet behind the 3-point arc and sank the game-winner over the Red Storm's Deivon Smith.
Roach, who scored more than 1,000 points as a Blue Devil, finished with a season-high 20 points for the Bears. After serving as a team captain as a junior and senior for Duke, the 23-year-old, fifth-year senior carried Baylor — and put his earlier miscue behind him.
“I just wanted to make that up to my teammates,” Roach said. “My teammates kept confidence in me. Telling me to just shake it off.”
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