ALC Eagles Men’s Basketball concludes season, fall in final minute to Ohio Christian University, 88-82

 Circleville, OH: The Alice Lloyd Eagles returned to action on March 9th as they journeyed to Buckeye state to battle the highly rated Ohio Christian University Trailblazers in the semi-final round of the NCCAA Men's Mideast Regional Tournament. The Bluegrass boys would battle to the wire, leading the majority of the contest, before dropping a narrow 88-82 decision.

The Eagles would come out on ready for battle and they turned to senior guard Koji Anderson to lift them to a quick lead.

The Trailblazers would counter by feeding the ball to big man Caleb Schmelzer, who helped OCU hang tight. However, ALC would show great balance as junior guards Desmier Hatchett and Landon Napier, plus freshman center Evin Eversole, would each drain several big buckets.

Alice Lloyd would slowly pull out to a 45-35 lead with 2:11 remaining and would enter the dressing room at the half holding a 45-39 advantage. Their big four each accounted for 8 points or more during those twenty minutes.

In the second half, the Caney Creek crew continued their solid play and pulled out to their largest lead at 53-41, following an Anderson midrange jumper with 17:32 showing. However, from there, Ohio Christian turned to Schmelzer and he began to lead a resurgence for the home club.

A major factor that helped OCU rally was the fact that they had outshot the Eagles during the first fifteen minutes of the half from the foul line., 17-1 This was just enough to allow them to chip away and finally take the lead. They then sank a few late free throws to hang on until the final buzzer sounded.

For Alice Lloyd (11-16), Anderson closes out his fine career with 25 points (10-19 FG, 3-3 FT). He broke the 1000 career point total this year. He was followed by Hatchett who drained 7-13 shots to finish with 20 points. He also recorded a double-double, as he grabbed 11 rebounds.

In addition, Eversole added 18 points and 6 rebounds, while Napier also hit double-digits by contributing 10 points. Junior forward Naz Welch added 6 points and 6 rebounds to the cause.

On the day, ALC shot 44.4% (31-70) from the floor, 32% (8-32) from long range, and 71.4% (10-14) from the charity line. They added 37 rebounds, 6 assists, and 5 steals.

OCU (26-3), was led by Schmelzer with 36 points, His squad shot 49.2% (29-59) from the field, 45.5% (10-22) from long-range, and 71.4% (14-28) from the foul line. They added 38 rebounds, 15 assists and 1 steal.

The biggest difference on the night was free throws as OCU doubled up the Pippa Passes posse in attempts, 28-14 to hold a 10-point edge in that department.

With loss, the Eagle faithful say goodbye to Anderson, plus senior sharpshooters Jacob Curry and Alex Rasnick. Curry, who was one of the nations top-three-point shooters last year, returned from major off-season surgery to earn limited minutes this year, while Rasnick was a steady performer this season.

Fortunately, the Eagles return everyone else, and already have several impressive recruits in the fold for next year, as they look to make a major run for the national's next season.