Flyers Fall to Eagles - Entertain Methodist Jayvee on Monday

Leading by eight points with eight minutes remaining in the first half, the Sandhills Community College basketball team was outscored 18-2 by Wake Tech on the way to a 97-82 loss at The Hangar on Saturday afternoon.

Before a large Veteran's Day gathering, the Flyers trailed 55-41 at the intermission and were unable to draw any closer than 12 points the rest of the way.  Jamori McDougald with 19 points, and Isaiah Nelson with 16, were the leading scorers for the home team. Taj Joyner led the Eagles with 23.

Coach Mike Apple's squad takes a record of 2-2 into Monday's 7 p.m. home game against the Methodist Junior Varsity. Transitioning from Division II to DI this season, the Eagles, led by former Flyers Assistant Coach Adam Wainwright (2013-14), improved to 4-1.

After the Eagles scored the first six points of the contest, Nelson and teammate Zach Riddle combined to score a total of 16 points as the Flyers jumped out to 28-20 lead.  Ayden Gittens, the team's leading scorer through the first three games, went down with an ankle injury during the Eagle surge and saw limited playing time after that, finishing with eight points.

The two teams spent most of the second half, trading baskets.

"We've got a bunch of young fellows and they're still learning how to play," Apple said.  "Ayden getting hurt early certainly put a damper on what we were doing, but as many times as we broke down defensively, and them getting into the lane for easy baskets, that's what we have to fix first.

"We're not doing a very good job guarding people right now and that's a basic thing.  Until you fix that it's hard to fix other things."

Former Flyers Contributing at Four-Year Colleges

Two members of last season's national runner-up Flyers squad are members of the Methodist varsity team. Last Saturday, Zac Sledge scored 14 points and grabbed five rebounds, and 2022 NJCAA All-American Joey McMullin contributed six points and four boards in an 83-73 loss to Johnson and Wales. The winners were led by another member of last year's squad, Kendall Wooldridge, who scored 13 points.

C. Bergmann