MISENHEIMER — To the Miracle Mets of 1969 and the Miracle on Ice in 1980, add
the Merner Miracle of Thursday, Jan. 25, 2001.
The Pfeiffer men’s basketball team’s 102-96 Carolinas-Virginia Athletic
Conference win over Barton will remain etched in the memories of Falcon students
as long as the historic building opens its doors. The night belonged to Pfeiffer’s
Little Big Man, 5-foot-8 senior Terrence Baxter, who played only the final 2
minutes, 21 seconds. Baxter has already had a fairy-tale college career. This
time, he added a chapter to his story that proves truth is stranger than
fiction. This was water-into-wine stuff.
Baxter suffered a painful hip pointer last Saturday at Lees-McRae. He tried to
play with the injury Monday against Mount Olive, but hobbled from the game after
four minutes. He didn’t expect to play last night. He didn’t even dress.
Fortunately, Falcon coach Dave Davis — for reasons of superstition or
sentiment — put his name in the scorebook, anyway.
The game was a struggle from the get-go for the Falcons, who lost at Barton
earlier this season. Without Baxter, Pfeiffer can’t apply its trademark
defensive pressure and Barton (7-7, 4-6) took advantage, shooting 54 percent in
the first half. But Pfeiffer still led 59-53 thanks to a phenomenal effort by
All-American Nem Sovic, who scored 20 points in 13 minutes.
While the first half was entertaining, the second half was a march to the foul
lines. It got insane. There were 62 personals (and two technicals) whistled, 40
in the second half. There were 85 free-throw attempts. Both teams were in the
double-bonus with more than 10 minutes left in the game. Folks got disqualified.
Davis lost guard Jay Moody, the CVAC’s top 3-point shooter, with eight minutes
left. Swingman Shakil Brew, having a big game with 17 points, was gone at 4:49.
Guard Joe Holmes, acting floor leader, exited at 3:17.
“That’s three of our four handlers,” said Davis, whose one remaining
handler was freshman Antwan Wallace, Baxter’s apprentice. Pfeiffer’s lead
dipped to 89-87 and the Falcons (12-3, 8-3) were dying a slow death. Then Moody
went sprinting toward the Falcon locker room. Perhaps he had taken ill.
Meanwhile, Sovic sank his first field goal of the second half for a four-point lead. Then Dwayne Bell got a huge rebound and Wallace scooped for 93-87 with under three minutes remaining.
It was at that point that the nature of Moody’s mission became clear. He had
gone after Baxter. Baxter appeared from nowhere like Superman emerging from a
phone booth. And he was wearing Moody’s shorts. Apparently there weren’t
enough uniforms to go around. The crowd went crazy at the sight of its hero,
chanting, “T-T-T-T.” Every finger in the place pointed at him.
It was like Willis Reed strolling into the Garden for the 1970 NBA playoffs. The
Falcons, who had played the entire game with clenched teeth, smiled. The roof
almost came off when Baxter casually pointed at the official scorer, saying, “I’m
in the game.”
“Terrence is such a great guy,” said Sovic. “When he came in, we knew we
would win.”
“We had no intentions of playing Terrence — absolutely none,” explained
Davis. “But we’d lost half our team. Give the credit to (assistant coach)
Jared Hedrick. It was his idea. It’s a good thing Terrence stays in attack
mode.”
The scoreboard clock showed 2:21 when Baxter took the floor. Twenty-one seconds
later, he muscled into the lane and banked for two.
“There was nothing else to do,” said Baxter. “I drove and tried to get a
foul.”
The Bulldogs rallied to 95-91. But at 1:12, Baxter drew the Falcons’ sixth
charge of the game. A feisty Eric Jackson offensive board and a free throw by
Wallace made it 96-91. But a 3-pointer by Dwayne Pean cut Pfeiffer’s lead to
two with 32 seconds left.
Baxter missed in the lane, but somehow rebounded among the trees. Moments later,
he was fouled and sank two free throws with 21 seconds left. Then he slapped the
ball out of bounds off Pean’s foot to get the ball back again. After Jackson
made one free throw, Baxter, heart thumping on the inside but calm on the
outside, sealed it with two freebies with eight seconds left. In his brief
appearance, Baxter scored six points, grabbed two rebounds and forced two
turnovers.
“We had dire need and adrenaline took over for me,” said Baxter. “But now
I can feel it.”
Davis was feeling it too. “We’re not playing great basketball, but we keep
persevering under adverse conditions,” he said. “What Terrence did — that
was pretty special.”
Even more than that. It was miraculous.
n
NOTES:Pfeiffer has played nine times in 19 days. ... Emory Smith contributed 20,
including three 3-pointers. ... Sovic’s 28 included 11-for-12 at the line. ...
Pfeiffer, which started 0-3 in the league, continues its surge toward the top.
It got some help when second-division Lees-McRae shocked first-place Queens last
night. ... Pfeiffer had a season-low 13 turnovers and for a change, won the
rebounding battle.
BARTON (96) — Black 19, Eugene 13, Chavis 7, Clark 21, Stewart 16, Green 5,
Pean 15.
PFEIFFER (102) — Sovic 28, Smith 20, Brew 17, Moody 8, Bell 7, Jackson 5,
Holmes 5, Baxter 6, Wallace 4, Cole 2.
Barton 53 43 — 96
Pfeiffer 59 43 — 102
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