Gophers Wind Up One Point Short in Florida

Gophers Wind Up One Point Short in Florida

Dec. 19, 2007

MIAMI SHORES, Fla. - Goucher's Darrin Boswell II (Philadelphia, PA/Joppatowne) landed a three-point field goal just as the buzzer sounded this afternoon. Unfortunately, at the time the junior guard launched the shot, the Gophers were trailing Apprentice School by four points, so the Builders emerged with a 60-59 victory at the Cruzin Classic. 

A pair of free throws by Michael Schaerr (Derwood, MD/Magruder) provided Goucher with a 54-52 lead with 4:53 left to play, but the Builders (9-6) responded with six unanswered points, opening up a 58-54 advantage on a lay-up by Stanford Johnson with 2:18 remaining.

The Gophers (2-6) pulled two points closer on a lay-up by Amir Hakim (Baltimore, MD/Baltimore Cty College) with 2:12 showing on the clock, but they didn't score again until Boswell's three-pointer at the buzzer.

Schaerr tallied eight points for Goucher after the Builders had assumed their biggest lead of the contest (48-42) with 8:38 remaining. The freshman forward drained three-point baskets on back-to-back possessions to wipe out the six-point deficit and his tip-in with 6:28 left to play created a 50-50 tie.

The Gophers, who placed first in this tournament in their only other appearance (2002-03), bolted out to an 11-2 advantage when Apprentice started out 1-for-7 from the field and committed four turnovers in the opening 6:01.

The Gophers didn'y surrender the lead until the final minute of the first half when a basket by Jason Smith put their Builders ahead 32-31.

Hakim and Schaerr were the only double-digit scorers for Goucher. Hakim finished with 13 points and Schaerr bunched all 10 of his points into the second half.

Eric Ruffin captured scoring honors for Apprentice as he produced 14 points.