The Tigers had a chance to win or force overtime.  Off a timeout at mid-court with 11.7 seconds remaining, senior guard Anthony McBride drove down the lane and had his shot blocked.  Center Yancy Gates grabbed the loose ball and was fouled on a stick-back attempt with 2.4 seconds left on the clock.  

The 6-fot-8 senior, who had made 4-of-4 from the free throw line up to that point, missed both attempts and after a scramble for the rebound the ball went out of bounds as time expired sending the Bombers’ crowd into frenzy and the Withrow faithful into a deafening silence.

Unlike Gates, Gibler had the chance to redeem himself after missing the front end of a bonus with 23.5 seconds left with the Bombers trailing 51-50.  St. Xavier senior forward Tom Williams grabbed the miss and got the ball back to Gibler who was fouled on a shot in the lane.  Gibler made good the second time around.

It was the second big play that Williams made in the final minute.  The senior forward had scored on an alley-oop pass from senior guard Brad Loesing at the 1:13 mark to give the Bombers a 50-49 lead.  Williams ended the game with 10 points and 6 rebounds.

“We have 11 seniors on this team and nobody is ready to go home yet,” said senior guard Brad Loesing, who scored a team-high 14 points and played all 32 minutes for St. Xavier.  “This was just a great match-up and Withrow brought their ‘A’ game.”

Added St. Xavier head coach Scott Martin: “Neither team deserves to lose a game like this but that’s just the way this tournament goes.”

Withrow knows that fact all too well.  Last season the Bombers beat the Tigers 51-48 in the closing seconds of the regional final to keep the Tigers from playing in the state Final Four. The Bombers eventually advanced to the state championship game before losing to Moeller 43-40.

St. Xavier (24-2) is back in the Final Four and will take on Cleveland St. Edward on Friday at 5:15 p.m. at Value City Arena in Columbus.

St. Xavier trailed the entire first half and by as much as 7 points until the 6:22 mark of the second quarter when Loesing drilled a 3-pointer for a 16-13 lead.  The Bomber opened up a 25-20 lead and led 28-22 at halftime.

The Bombers’ biggest lead of the second half was 6 points and the Tigers’ 3 points.

St. Xavier shot 50 percent from the field for the game while Withrow ended at 44.4 percent.  The Bombers out-rebounded the Tigers by a narrow 23-22 margin. 

Withrow senior guard Troy Long scored a game-high 18 points including 4-of-8 from 3-point range.  Gates added 16 points including 10 in the final quarter and had 10 rebounds.