Allan McIntosh led the San Quentin Warriors in overtime over the Imago Dei Ministries basketball team, 64-59. McIntosh scored six of his 27 points in OT alone.
“I told McIntosh to be the aggressive player that he is, and make some plays. He did,” said Warriors Coach Daniel Wright.
“In the fourth quarter, that was our plan; I have to turn it up for us to win it. I did and it just carried over into overtime,” said McIntosh.
Imago Dei came in with its guns loaded. The team included Steve Diekmann, who played for Grinnell College in Iowa, when the Division 3 team led the NCAA in national scoring average.
In addition, playing center/ power forward, the team had Steve “Big Red” Sandrson, who has the size and strength of a tall football player with nimble moves. “He’s a sledgehammer in the post,” said Diekmann.
Imago Dei also brought firsttimer Andy Nicholson, who played fearlessly against the Warriors. The 5-foot-10 guard came off the bench and hustled his way to a double-double, scoring 12 with 11 rebounds. “It’s just my nature. I grew up being a gritty, feisty guy. I had to give (the Warriors) a game,” said Nicholson.
“That’s the best I’ve seen them play since I’ve been here; they gave us a tough game, but we pulled it out at the end,” commented McIntosh.
The game started slow for Imago Dei, with only Sandrson seemingly able to score with the Warriors defense keyed on Diekmann, who went on to score 16, hitting 5/12 from the field, including 3/5 from threepoint land. The score was 28- 27 Warriors at the half.\
During halftime, Sean Donohue of Imago Dei delivered an inspirational message to both teams, that everyone is created in God’s image, and has a purpose in life. Then the game resumed.
With two minutes left in the fourth quarter, Imago Dei went up three points in the back and forth nail-biter. Then Warrior Anthony Ammons blocked a Sandrson shot and the Warriors came back and took the lead when McIntosh made an and-one play, 55-53.
The scrappy Nicholson tied the game and secured his double-double with a lay-up on a drive to the hole.
Both teams turned the ball over trying to score game ending points, while the clock counted down, taking the game to overtime.
During the OT, McIntosh and Ammons scored all the points from the field, with Ammons driving to the rack to add two, and McIntosh mixing it up with his 15-foot jumper and driving to the hole for six. The Warriors left Imago Dei at 59 and went on to score 64 total points.
Sandrson ended with 24 points and nine boards for Imago Dei, while Ammons had eight points and nine rebounds for the Warriors. Ammons “couldn’t guard me,” clowned Sandrson. “He’s right,” Ammons replied. “We were like two trains colliding.”
“We kept fighting; we were resilient. It was an ugly game, but we didn’t give up,” said Wright.
