Brown Hasn’t Got the Time, Helps Lift USIU

Gary Zarecky, the USIU basketball coach, saw that the Gulls needed a timeout with an 82-80 lead, the ball and 30 seconds remaining in their game with Weber State at Golden Hall Thursday night. And the 161 in attendance saw that Zarecky wanted a timeout.

But all freshman Issac Brown saw was the basket.

With Zarecky yelling, Brown drove the left side sandwiched between Weber State players and calmly popped in a shot to make the biggest basket of an even bigger game that the Gulls went on to win, 86-82.

“I heard him,” said Brown, who scored a season-high 19 points in 18 minutes. “But I saw the basket, and we needed it. And it was there.

“If I’d have missed it, I would have hated to go to the bench.”

And if the Gulls (3-7) had lost, they probably would have hated to go back to the gym. The victory not only broke a seven-game losing streak, it also started an important nine-game home stand the right way.

USIU was playing at home after being routed, 166-101, at No. 10 Arkansas and, 93-69, at Montana.

“They’ve been down,” Zarecky said. “It’s a team clawing back.”

Which is exactly what the Gulls were forced to do after trailing, 25-17, midway through the first half.

But Brown, who finished seven for seven from the field and five for six from the free throw line, came off the bench to spark the Gulls. He scored eight of USIU’s next 10 points and gave the Gulls a 29-28 lead on a layup with 7:25 remaining in the half.

Kevin Bradshaw, who is averaging 29 points a game, hit one of his hot streaks with USIU trailing, 40-36, late in the half. First he hit a three-pointer. Then he followed with a one-handed flying dunk and a pair of free throws to give USIU a 43-42 lead.

Bradshaw, who finished with 34 points, started the second half where he left off, scoring eight of USIU’s first 10 points. The Gulls stretched their 45-44 halftime lead to 64-53 with 12:38 remaining.

But Weber State (2-2) battled back and trailed by just 82-80 on a 12-foot jumper by Joe Jason with 46 seconds remaining.

Then Brown hit his shot, and Paul Wilson made both ends of a one-and-one with four seconds left. Wilson finished with 13 points.

“I’ve just got to the point where I’m pulling my hair out,” Zarecky said. “We have to get back into the form we had before the Drake game (a victory in the season opener).

“It wasn’t pretty. The guys won it on heart. I just think the victory is the bottom line.”

Jerry McIntosh led Weber State with 19 points and Tony Nicholas added 16. USIU plays host Wright State (4-2) Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Golden State.