Hollis lifts FoxTown Cantu to road win at buzzer

Damian Hollis’s tip-in at the buzzer was the difference as FoxTown Cantu bested Artland Dragons 66-68 in Quakenbrueck, Germany. The hosts led by 3 with 16 seconds remaining, but Stefano Gentile came through with an unlikely basket-plus-foul before a costly turnover set the stage for Hollis’s heroics. Cantu improved to 2-5 in Group B to remain in the race for a spot in the Last 32. Dragons dropped to 1-6. The game was close throughout. Dragons led in the first quarter, but Cantu tied it early in the second and a 0-9 run left the visitors ahead 33-36 at halftime. The game was tied at five different points in the second half and the game seemed destined for overtime until Cantu struck late. Hollis led Cantu with 16 points and Marco Lagana scored 13 on 3-of-4 three-point shooting. Giorgi Shermadini contributed 9 rebounds for the winners. Antonio Graves paced Dragons with 15 points and David McCray, Anthony King and Brandon Thomas added 11 each.

Graves hit from downtown on Dragons’ first possession. David Holston and Graves made it 7-2 before Cheikh Mbodj scored his second basket for Cantu. While Mbodj remained a force inside, Lawrence Hill’s three helped the hosts stay in charge. Bastian Doreth’s steal led to a Graves layup and a 16-8 Dragons advantage. James Feldeine and Eric Williams tried to spur the visitors, but McCray hit a three and later finished the quarter with a layup to make it 23-15 through 10 minutes. Awudu Abass connected from behind the arc and Lagana added 5 quick points to tie the score at 23-23. The teams traded buckets until King sandwiched a pair of baskets around Thomas free throws to put Dragons in front 33-27, however Darius Johnson-Odom nailed a three, DeQuan Jones dunked and Feldeine put Cantu up 33-34 with a minute left in the half. Feldeine capped a 0-9 run to finish the half with his team up 33-36.

Dragons went back on top early in the second half on Holston’s steal and layup. After Giorgi Shermadini’s tip-in for Cantu, McCray tied the game at 40-40 midway through the third quarter with a three-pointer. Lagana added a three for Cantu, but Chad Topper matched him for Dragons. Mbodj put the visitors up 4, but McCray’s basket in the final minute of the quarter closed the difference to 47-49. Andreas Seiferth free throws evened the score at 51-51 early in the fourth quarter. Lagana countered with a three and Williams extended the Cant lead to 51-56. King responded with the game’s next 5 points and Thomas sank a big three to make it 59-56. Graves made a triple to a 64-60 Dragons lead with less than two minutes to go. Hollis’s three brought Cantu within 1, however Thomas sank clutch free throws with 16 seconds remaining to keep the hosts up 3. Gentile attacked the basket for a laup-plus-foul and tied the game at 66-66 with 10 seconds to go. A costly turnover gave Cantu one last chance and Hollis’s tip-in won it for the visitors at the buzzer.