Freeport’s Beale sinks second career buzzer-beater

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, January 25, 2018 | 5:51 PM

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“Big Shot Ben” did it again.

Freeport’s star senior, who hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to knock off Indiana last season, scored another game-winner Wednesday as his tip-in at the buzzer gave the Yellowjackets a 50-49 nonsection victory over Armstrong.

Trailing by one, Freeport corralled the rebound from a missed Armstrong free throw and drove up court. Point guard Jalen Brown took a pass at midcourt, cut into the lane and passed to Beale, who drove toward the basket. He missed his initial shot with a pair of Armstrong players defending but tipped the ball with his left hand after it came off the rim.

It went through the net as the buzzer sounded.

“Luckily I followed my shot and I didn’t know how much time was (left), so I grabbed my rebound and threw it back up,” Beale said.

Game winner pt. 2 pic.twitter.com/6LoC86nOcb

— Benny Beale (@BenjaminBeale) January 25, 2018

Beale’s shot ensured Freeport (9-5) wouldn’t drop a second straight game; a 63-53 loss to Valley last week snapped the team’s six-game winning streak. The Yellowjackets play Friday night at, ironically enough, Indiana.

“This win was huge for us,” Beale said. “We needed to this get back on track and back into the flow of things. It would’ve been hard to play Friday against Indiana coming off a loss. This was a morale booster and everyone is ready to get back to section play and get this one Friday.”

Doug Gulasy is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at dgulasy@tribweb.com or via Twitter @dgulasy_Trib.

Tags: Freeport