Valient comeback falls short as ALC Eagles Basketball drops close decision to Michigan squad
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Great Lakes Christian (7-2, 0-0) | 45 | 39 | 84 |
|
Alice Lloyd (KY) (1-4, 0-0) | 29 | 47 | 76 |
Pippa Passes, KY: The Alice Lloyd Eagles returned home on Saturday afternoon in the final game of the Irma Stepp Memorial Classic. Their opponent would be a tall, talented, and ultra-athletic Great Lakes Christian Crusader squad. The Michigan club had already knocked off the NAIA's 5th ranked team this season and won their opening game of this classic in easy fashion over a impressive Carolina Bruins squad. Due to a tough shooting night, ALC would fall behind by 20 in the second half. However, the hosts would rally to get within 2 before dropping a late 84-76 decision.
In the first half, the contest started well and the game was knotted up at 7-7 after four minutes of play. However, sparked by their physical guard Devin Watts, the northern squad would go on a 13-2 run in the next three minutes to pull ahead, 20-9.
The Eagles would turn cold and have trouble finding the bucket. This inabled GLC to pull on out to a comfortable 37-19 advantage with 6:19 remaining. They would remain in control and manage to hold a 45-29 lead heading into the locker room for intermission. The hosts were outshot in the opening half, 50% to 25% which contributed to the deep hole they found themselves in. The second half would start the same way.
In the second half, the Crusaders opened with a quick pair of buckets to run their advantage to twenty, 49-29. The Eagles appeared ready to be blown out on their own court.
Happily, the hometown boys rolled up their sleeves and went to work. First, the Caney Creek crew would clamp down on defense. Next, sparked by several hoops from freshman forward Evin Eversole, they would pull off a 15-3 burst. Suddenly at 12:53, the lead had shrunk to eight, 52-44.
After a Great Lakes bucket made the score 54-44, The Eagles used a pair of trifectas from junior guard Desmier Hatchett to start another rally. Eventually, when junior guard Aden Slone swished a pair of charity tosses with 7:45 remaining on the scoreclock, the deficit had been whittled down to just two, 59-57.
Critically, during the next four minutes, the Michigan team would ride a pair of buckets from Watts to gain a back-breaking 12-0 burst that put his club back on top 71-57. Although, the Pippa Passes posse fought valiently to get back within six points (82-76), they would run out of time as the final buzzer handed the victory to the Michigan bunch.
For ALC (1-3) Eversole led the way with a 14 points/11 rebound double-double. He also swatted 4 shots and dished off 4 assists. Also reaching double figures was junior guard Landon Napier with 11 points and Hatchett with 10 points. In addition, senior guard Koji Anderson swiped 5 balls.
On the day, the home crew shot a frigid 33.3% (26-78) from the field, 29.5% (13-44) from long range, and 68.8 (11-16) from the charity line. They added 37 rebounds, 15 assists, 9 steals, and 4 blocks.
Great Lakes Christian (7-2), who placed four players in double-figures, was led by Watts with 24 points. His team shot 49.1% (27-55) from the field, 22.2% (4-18) from long range, and won the game by sinking 78.8% from the charity stripe (26-33). They added 46 rebounds, 15 assists, 6 steals, and 5 blocks.