Alice Lloyd Eagles comeback-bid falls short to powerful Shawnee State University, 86-74

Pippa Passes, KY:  On Tuesday, February 6th, the Alice Lloyd Eagles played host to the division-leading Shawnee State University Bears in RSC play. The visitors, winners of ten of their last eleven games, raced out to a huge lead, then held on for the 86-74 victory.

In the opening stanza, the game was tight early. When junior forward Devaunte Robison sank a jumper at the 14:47 mark, he gave the Eagles their first lead of the night (11-10). Unfortunately, his squad would not lead again.

Sparked by their athletic big man Keith Germain, SSU rolled off a 9-0 run in a two-minute span to jump ahead 19-11.

From there, the Ohio squad would utilize five dunks, and roll to a 44-24 lead by intermission.

In the second half, the Eagles came out of the locker-room on a 9-2 burst. This quickly reduced the deficit to thirteen (46-33), and forced a Bear timeout.

 Unfortunately, over the next 4:45, SSU unleashed a huge 14-2 blitzkrieg, and vaulted ahead 60-35. The Eagles appeared doomed to a massive loss.

To their credit, ALC refused to quit. Sparked by the marksmanship of sophomore guard Koji Anderson, and a pair of bombs from freshman guard Daniel Carmical, the Pippa Passes posse began to fight back.

Over a seven-minute stretch, Anderson scored 9 points to spark a furious 26-12 burst by the hometown squad. When the crafty guard swished a deep trifecta with 5:21 remaining, the Eagles were suddenly within eleven (72-61).

After a steal, the Caney Creek crew would get an opportunity on their next possession to draw even closer, but a long bomb rimmed out. From there, a string of free throws would permit Shawnee to regroup and slowly regain the momentum, as they would hold on for the road win.

For Alice Lloyd (11-12, 3-10 RSC), they were led on the night by Anderson, who pumped in 18 points, 17 in a torrid second half performance. He was followed in double digits by sophomore guard Landon Napier with 12 points and senior guard Jared Strickland with 11.

 In addition, Anderson led the club with 5 assists while senior forward Ben Soumahoro grabbed 6 boards. Junior forward Devaunte Robinson contributed 7 points and 2 blocks while seven different Eagles recorded 2 steals apiece.

On the day, the Caney Creek crew shot 41.3% (26-63) from the field, 35.7 % (10-28) from beyond arc and 54.5% (12-22) from the charity stripe. A deciding factor in the game was rebounds, as they only corralled 24. They also handed off 12 assists, stole 14 balls and blocked 6 shots.

SSU (17-6; 11-2 RSC) was led by Germain with 26 points. His squad shot 54.5% (30-55) from the field, 33.3% (6-18) from beyond the arc and 80% (20-25) from the charity stripe. They also benefitted by snaring 45 rebounds, handing out 25 assists and stealing 7 balls.

The Eagles return to action this Saturday, February 10th, when they face the homestanding West Virginia Tech Golden Bears in the bottom-half of a critical RSC doubleheader. Tipoff is set for 3:00 PM.