Flyers Make Baskets Hard to Come by for the Eagles in Oxford, GA
The Sandhills Community College basketball team held Oxford College of Emory University to a total of eight field goals in the first half and went on to earn victory No. 25, 105-57, in Oxford, GA on Saturday.
Sayaun Dent led the Flyers with 21 points and 10 rebounds as he recorded his 10th double-double of the season. Coach Mike Apple's squad improved to 25-2 overall and 5-0 in Region 10 while the Eagles dropped to 12-11 and 2-4.
In a game added to the schedule, the Flyers travel to Richfield on Monday for a 7 p.m. tip-off against the Pfeiffer University junior varsity. Tramaine Pride, a member of the Flyers' 2012 National Championship team, is an assistant coach for the Falcons.
They hit the road again on Wednesday to face Johnston CC at 7 p.m. in Smithfield for the final regular season Region 10 game.
As he did when the two teams met at The Hangar two weeks ago, Winston Bryan did a good job slowing down the Eagles' Shane McCravy, the seventh highest scorer in NJCAA Division III with an average of 24.2 points per game. The 6-3 freshman was held to two baskets, and a total of six points in the first half, as the Flyers took a 51-24 lead into the intermission. He finished the game with 17 points.
Other double-figure scorers for a Flyer squad that connected on 55 percent of its shots from the field were Corry Addison with 18, Elijah Idlett with 13, Savion Staton with 12 and Derreco Miller with 10. The assist leader was Idlett with six and Staton led in steals with four. For the second game in a row, the Flyers were tidy in the ball-handling department, committing only 10 turnovers.
The Flyers have clinched the Region 10 regular season title and will host the conference tournament on Saturday, February 22 with games at 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m followed by the championship game on Sunday, February 23 at 1 p.m. In addition to the Flyers, Oxford Emory and Johnston CC, Central Carolina CC will be included in the four-team field.
The Flyers go into next week as the No. 1 ranked team in Division III. No. 3 St. Cloud (20-1) suffered its first loss of the season on Saturday 110-101 in double-overtime to No. 18 Rochester Community and Technical College (18-5) in St. Cloud, MN.
Flyers Extra – For the first time, Region 10 is introducing an All-Region Academic Team for student athletes. Those from the basketball team meeting the GPA requirement of 3.0 or better for the fall semester are: Tyrell Allmond, Zion Bailey, Bryan, Collin Medins, Derreco Miller, Staton, Cameron Williams and Nathan Yow. Former Flyer Damauri Sexton helped Bluefield College win both of its games this week by pouring in 21 points against Milligan College and 14 against Bryan College. The 6-foot-6 junior was a combined 16-for-25 on shots from the field in the two home games.
Sandhills – Idlett 5 0-0 13, Dent 10 1-2 21, Bryan 0 0-0 0, Addison 7 3-4 18, Miller 5 0-0 10, Ratliffe 0 0-0 0, Staton 4 3-5 12, Allmond 2 2-4 7, Yow 2 0-0 4, Bailey 0 0-0 0, Williams 1 2-2 4, Richardson 3 0-0 6, Davis 4 0-0 8, Medins 1 0-0 2 Totals 44 11-17 105. Oxford Emory – Polzin 3 3-4 9, McCravy 6 5-9 17, Powell 1 0-0 3, Gerber 2 0-0 5, Varela 9 2-2 20, J. Tang 1 1-4 3, M. Tang 0 0-0 0, Perlicki 0 0-0 0 Totals 22 11-18 57. Three-point goals: SCC 6 (Idlett 3, Staton, Allmond, Addison); OX 2 (Powell, Gerber).
by Charlie Bergmann
photo by Donna Ford