Pasadena Muir Rallies to Win, 49-47

With nearly 90 seconds to play, La Puente Bishop Amat High led Pasadena Muir by four points, but the Mustangs still had a chance because of Jacque Vaughn.

Even though he did not have one of his best games, Vaughn led a comeback as the Mustangs won, 49-47, in a Southern Section Division II-AA second-round basketball game Tuesday night at Bishop Amat.

Muir (20-8), which has won 12 consecutive games, scored its winning points with 14 seconds remaining on a three-point play by Donald McIntire, who got the rebound of a missed free throw by Vaughn.

Up to that point, Vaughn--who had a team-high 15 points--had scored all nine of Muir’s fourth-quarter points and was five for five from the free-throw line.

“Guess it was meant for me to miss a free throw at that time,” said Vaughn, who also had 10 assists.

“This is a big win for us because we had dropped our heads for a second when they took that lead.”

Behind four three-point shots by Demetrius Collier, who finished with 14 points, Muir led for most of the game.

The Mustangs led by four at the end of the first quarter and by 30-26 at halftime.

Bishop Amat rallied at the end of the third quarter on two three-pointers by Jelani Gardner, who had a game-high 16 points, to tie the score at 37.

David Ng scored five points down the stretch for the Lancers and helped them to a 47-43 lead before Vaughn took over.

With 51 seconds to play, Vaughn made a layup in traffic and 35 seconds later he was on the free-throw line.

Bishop Amat (14-13) made only five of 14 free throws.

“You can’t miss free throws in a game like this, and that is the bottom line,” Bishop Amat Coach Alex Acosta said.

Muir will play Tustin on Friday night at a site to be determined.