Men's Basketball
Common Names Fuel Uncommon Victory for Buckeyes
By John Porentas
According to the U.S. Census Bureau there are 677,929 persons living in the United States with the last name "Lewis".

For one incredible moment in venerable Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky, on Saturday one of them separated himself from all the rest.

OSU senior Ron Lewis hit one of the most memorable shots in recent OSU basketball history when he drained a three point field goal with just two seconds on the clock to tie the game with Xavier in the second round of the NCAA tournament at 62 and force overtime, an overtime that would be all Buckeyes.

Lewis' heroics capped a late-game Buckeye comeback from a deficit that had them on the brink of NCAA tournament extinction. A brilliant game by Xavier forward Justin Gage spearheaded a Musketeer effort that had Xavier holding a lead of 59-50 with under three minutes to play. That's when the guy with the common name stepped up with an uncommon effort to take advantage of a rare opportunity.

With 2:54 remaining Lewis drove to the basket, was fouled, and made two free throws to cut the lead to 59-52. Following a missed layup by Xavier's Justin Doellman OSU guard Jamar Butler knocked down a three pointer at the 2:11 mark to cut the lead to 59-55. Butler got an assist from none-other than Lewis.

That's when another guy with a common name stepped up for the Buckeyes. There are 68,993 people named Conley living in the U.S. The one called Mike Jr. made a steal with 1:37 on the clock to regain possession for the Buckeyes and save precious time on the clock.

"It was a read that I made at that time of the game," said Conley of his critical steal.

"We hadn't pressured up the full court the whole game until we were down. At that point I was looking to get a steal off the inbound and likely I kind of read it and got behind the player and tipped the ball out then got the ball. It was basically a read I made at the time."

Conley got the ball to Lewis who took it to the rim and was fouled while making a shot that cut the lead to 59-57. He then hit the free throw to cut the lead to 59-58.

Cage converted two free throws at 1:14 to move the lead back to 61-58, but Greg Oden made a free throw to make it 61-59, then registered steal to give the Buckeyes the ball with 27 seconds remaining and trailing by two.

The Buckeyes got a good looking shot from three for Butler with 16 seconds remaining, but the shot didn't go. David Lighty grabbed the rebound for OSU but missed the stickback attempt, and on the play, Greg Oden fouled Cage with 9.8 seconds on the clock. The foul was also Oden's fifth and put him on the bench for the rest of the game.

Cage had been brilliant to that point. He was eight of eight from the field including three for three from three point range and he had hit five of six free throws. One free throw would make OSU's chances at a comeback extremely improbable, two virtually impossible. Cage knocked down the first one to put Xavier up 62-59, but the second one hit the rim twice before falling off into the hands of Ivan Harris and set up the uncommon opportunity for the man with the common name.

Harris got the ball to Conley, Conley got it to Lewis, and Lewis' sent a shot toward the rim from 24 feet away. It's the kind of situation anybody who has ever played basketball in the driveway has imagined. How many of the 677,929 people named Lewis that includes is unknown, but for the one that mattered in Lexington, it was no longer an imagined situation. It was the reality of his basketball career and a defining moment.

The ball went through the rim to tie the game at 62 with two seconds remaining. When it did, Ron Lewis separated himself from the vast majority of all the other 677,928 people named Lewis, and for that matter, the vast majority of people who have played basketball at OSU no matter what their name. The man with the common name had succeeded in tying the game and ripping the hearts out of the Musketeers.

"I told Mike (Conley) before we even left the huddle just to get me the ball," said Lewis. "That's what he did, he found me, and I had an open look and I took it.

"I was just trying to get open if possible. Mike was on the other side of the court so for me to get the ball I had to come to the other side and he found me," Lewis said.

"He was hot this game. He wasn't missing too many shots and he had all the confidence in the world," said Conley.

"I was going to look for him regardless, but when he came up to me it just showed how much confidence he had in his ability, so I when I got the ball I tried to look for him as quick as I could and luckily we got a good shot out of it," Conley said.

Conley said that when Lewis let the ball fly he thought the Buckeyes were in good shape despite the shortfall on the scoreboard at that moment.

"I knew he has a lot of confidence so when he let it loose I has all the confidence in the world it was going in," Conley said.

Xavier scored first in overtime, but Conley scored the next seven points in the game with a three-pointer and two two-point field goals to put OSU up five. When Daequan Cook hit a three pointer to put OSU up by eight, there was little doubt as to who would win the game. Conley would score 11 of his 21 points in the overtime.

"In overtime he took everything that they gave him, Mike did," said Lewis.

"He went to the hole, he hit threes and knocked down free throws, and he also distributed the rock to players who also knocked down shots."

"At that point I had all the confidence that we would win the game," said Conley.

"We had come too far to lose the game I felt.

"At that point I was just trying to take advantage of whatever the defense was giving me and just being a little bit more aggressive than I was in the previous 20 minutes of play, because I wasn't too aggressive. Coach told me that before we went out for the overtime, so I just tried to be as aggressive as I could and get everybody involved."

Xavier ends its season with a final record of 25-8. Ohio State now stands at 31-3 on the season and has now won 19-consecutive games.

With the win the Buckeyes advance to the NCAA Sweet-16 in San Antonio next week. They will play the winner of the Tennessee vs. Virginia game to be played in Columbus on Sunday.

Box Score

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