Thursday, July 9th, 2020
For the win ...
Mikesell sinks game-ending hoop for Red Scare in TBT
By Colin Foster
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
St. Henry graduate Ryan Mikesell takes a 3-point shot during Dayton's game last season with St. Bonaventure at UD Arena. File photo.
It had been a long time since Ryan Mikesell had played in a 5-on-5 game.
In his return to the court on Wednesday, the St. Henry graduate made a game-winner.
Mikesell scored 14 points and hit four 3-pointers - the last of which helped the Red Scare close out the Elam Ending and game with a 77-68 victory over Big X in The Basketball Tournament at Nationwide Arena.
"It was really good just to get out there and play again," said Mikesell over the phone from his hotel room last evening. "Obviously, we had to knock the rust off. We got off to a little bit of a slow start. We had our ups and downs, but at the end we found a way to win."
The Red Scare, composed mainly of University of Dayton alums, advances to play House of 'Paign, which knocked off defending champion Carmen's Crew 76-68. Former South Dakota State star Mike Daum scored 23 points to lead House of 'Paign, a team featuring many ex-Illinois players. Tip-off time for Friday's game is 4 p.m.
"They've got Mike Daum, who is one of the best scorers ever in college basketball history," Mikesell said. "You've obviously got to make it difficult for him. He's going to make some tough shots, but you've got to make sure he doesn't get any easy ones early and make him work for everything that he gets, and everyone else is really good. They can really shoot the 3. They're really scrappy. They're flying around. They're physical.
"We're going to have to take care of the ball better," he added. "I thought we were really sloppy turnover-wise."
Mikesell checked in midway through the first quarter with the Red Scare trailing 6-5. He had a tip-in for two points and got a couple shout-outs from commentator Fran Fraschilla for his defensive play. The Red Scare took their first lead on Ryan McMahon's 3-pointer with 45 seconds remaining in the quarter. They led 15-12 after one.
Mikesell made a triple with 1:25 to go in the half, prompting Fraschilla to say "The young man from St. Henry, Ohio, they've always had a great basketball tradition in the western part of the state." That 3 put the Red Scare up 33-31, but Big X finished half on a 7-0 run for a five-point lead at break.
The Flyer alums went on an 8-2 run to begin the second half. Later in the third quarter, another long-range swish from Mikesell began a 1 1/2-minute stretch that saw the teams combine for a quartet of 3-pointers. Big X held a 57-55 lead after three.
There were two ties and three lead changes early in the fourth quarter. Darrell Davis' free throws broke a 62-all knot and sent Dayton's bunch ahead for good. Davis later hit two 3s to cap an 11-0 run. The Elam Ending target score was set at 75. Big X had cut the score to 74-68 when Mikesell was left open in the corner and sunk the winner.
"I knew I had to shoot it when I was left wide open," Mikesell said. "After the game, I actually got asked in a press conference, they were saying 'You only needed one point and you shot a 3.' I said 'Well, if you get that wide open, you've got to let it fly.' "
During a Saturday afternoon TBT telecast, one commentator labeled Mikesell a "sharpshooter" when discussing the Red Scare. He lived up to that reputation on Wednesday.
Mikesell, a career 31% 3-point shooter at Dayton, finished 4-of-7 from deep and 5-of-9 overall shooting. He added two rebounds, one assist and one steal.
Davis went 3-of-5 from long range on his way to a team-high 15 points. McMahon (a Louisville alum) made 4-of-8 3-point attempts for 12 points with Trevor Thompson (an ex-Buckeye) also adding 12 for the victors.
Former Wisconsin Badger Trevon Hughes led Big X with a game-high 20 points.
Prior to The Basketball Tournament's start, competitive hoops hadn't been played in America since March. Mikesell's final college game took place March 7, when Dayton defeated George Washington 76-51 to complete an 18-0 run through Atlantic-10 play and a 29-2 regular season on Senior Night at UD Arena. That game was played in front of more than 13,000 fans. No fans were present inside Nationwide Arena on Wednesday due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
"It's so weird, I mean, you can hear everybody talking; you can hear the trash-talking; you can hear all the refs talking back to you; you can hear the players talking and stuff," Mikesell said. "It's so unique, but these times call for unique measures. I'm just glad we get to go out there and play."
