Recordpub.com - Fisher does the unthinkable

By David Carducci
Record-Courier staff writer
Anyone wondering if Al Fisher had another rabbit left in his hat this season after all of the late-game heroics that earned him last year's Mid-American Conference Player of the Year award, you have your answer.
The man Kent State fans call "Big Shot Al" stunned Saint Louis by banking in a runner high off the backboard in the closing seconds of overtime, giving give the Golden Flashes a thrilling 76-74 win Wednesday night in their first road test of the season.
And that game-winner, it was only the least spectacular shot Fisher drained in a wild final nine and a half minutes that saw him score KSU's last 14 points of regulation, then go a perfect 7-for-7 from the field in overtime. Fisher ended up with 16 of the Flashes 17 points in the extra session and 30 of their last 31 overall to finish with 35 points on the night.
He hit 3-pointers over the out-stretched arms of Billikens double-teams. He banked in running 20-footers. He floated in tear-drops in the lane. On two consecutive plays separated by just 13 seconds, he picked the pocket of Saint Louis guards, then out-raced them to the other end of the floor for easy baskets.
It was like watching Larry Bird out-duel Dominique Wilkins back in 1988, only the Billikens didn't have a "Human Highlight Film" to turn to.
"I've been going to basketball games since I was an infant, and I've never seen a guy make the degree-of-difficulty shots he hit," said KSU's Geno Ford, who is now 2-0 in his first season as head coach. "And every single shot was to tie the game or put us up by one. We had to have every one of them.
"Over the years, I've seen guys have stretches where they play really well, but he was in a zone I've never seen before. I can't imagine how big the hoop must have looked for him. The kid is just a winner. He makes winning plays."
Actually, Fisher spent all overtime trying to atone for what he considered "a non-winning play" at the end of regulation. With 14 seconds on the clock, Fisher floated in a layup to deadlock the score at 59, fouling out Saint Louis' Barry Eberhardt along the way. But when he stepped to the line, Fisher clanged a potential game-winning foul shot off the back of the rim.
Fortunately, some tough defense at the other end forced a errant, desperation 30-footer by the Billikens' Kevin Lisch at the buzzer.
"Al came over and grabbed me before the overtime and apologized," said Ford. "I told him "shake it off and go make up for it.'
"What he did was 45 levels past "go make up for it.' It was the best five minutes I've ever seen by any player in my entire life."
Fisher offered a quick hint of what was to come by drilling a long 3-pointer on the Flashes' very first possession. Only a free throw by Mike McKee less than a minute later kept Fisher from scoring all of his team's points in overtime.
That doesn't mean, however, the win was just a one-man show.
"A lot of guys came up big besides me," said Fisher, who made 15-of-28 shots on the night and scored 30 of his 35 points after the game was more than 35 minutes old. "Anthony Simpson came in and hit some big shots. Justin Greene played well. Rashad Woods played well."
Add center Brandon Parks to the list.
In his second game as the Flashes' starting center, the 6-foot-10 junior scored just two points, but he managed to grab 10 rebounds.
"And most of those were in heavy traffic," said Ford. "He got some really big rebounds for us when we had to have them."
Lisch scored 22 and Tommie Liddell added 19 for the Billikens, who fell short in their bid to avenge a humiliating 81-40 loss in Kent last season.
"Saint Louis is a lot better than they were last year," said Fisher. "They are a good team, so this win will give us a lot of confidence. ... We believed we were going to be a good team, but we needed to come together and all get on the same page first. This game was the first time where we actually got a chance to see what kind of team we can be."