Flyers Stumble at Home Against Cobras

Plagued by first half turnovers and poor shooting throughout, the Sandhills Community College basketball team suffered an 87-77 home loss to Caldwell Tech on Saturday.

The Cobras took advantage of six ball handling miscues in the first three minutes of the game to take a 12-2 lead. The Flyers were never able to catch up and trailed by as many as 19 in the second half. Coming off two losses in a row, the Flyers (7-4) will try to get back on track when they travel to Florence, SC today for a 4 p.m. game against the Francis Marion junior varsity.

On the way to committing 17 turnovers in the first half, the Flyers were able to draw to within three points at 29-26 after Calvin Ahoume split a pair of free throws, but the Cougars expanded the margin to 44-35 at the intermission.

Early in the second half a put-back by Damauri Sexton cut the lead to 48-46. The Flyers were within four points at the 14-minute mark on a basket by Evan Davis before an 18-4 burst pushed the lead for the Division I Cobras to 18 points.

The Flyers made just 34.3 per cent of their shots from the field, including 3-for-18 from behind the arc and finished with 22 turnovers. The Cobras made 50 per cent of their shots from the field and committed 17 turnovers.

Devin Smith was 7-for-14 from the field and led the home team with 17 points followed by Donnie Haith with 13.  Ahoume contributed 11 points and 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. He also blocked four shots.

Flyers Extra – Flyer alum Tony Harper was credited with 12 points, six rebounds, three blocks and two assists in Johnson C. Smith's 70-68 victory over Lees-McRae on Thursday.

Caldwell – Walton 4 7-10 16, Heath 5 3-4 14, Koffa 1 0-0 2, Mupungo 5 0-1 10, Walker 2 2-3 6, Clinton 1 0-0 2, Walls 0 0-0 0, Gathings 1 2-2 5, Warren 0 0-0 0, Kamba 5 5-5 15, Perry 3 0-2 7, Prince 0 0-0 0, Davis 2 0-0 4, Gordy 0 2-2 2, Brown 2 0-0 4 Totals 31 21-29 87. Sandhills – Morrisette-Barnett 1 1-1 3, Haith 3 6-7 13, Smith 7 2-2 17, D. Davis 1 1-1 3, Ahoume 2 7-9 11, Grissett 0 0-2 0, Sexton 3 0-0 6, Peterson 0 3-3 3, Bryan 0 0-0 0, Dent 0 2-4 2, Allmond 2 2-4 7, Williams 1 0-0 2, Walker 1 0-3 2, E. Davis 2 4-5 8 Totals 23 28-41 77. Three-point goals: CT 4 (Walton, Gathings, Heath, Perry); SCC 3 (Haith, Smith, Allmond).

by Charlie Bergmann

photo by Donna Ford