Flyers Ease Past Patriots With Late Run

An 18-6 run by the Sandhills Community College basketball team over the final seven and a half minutes turned a game-long struggle against Patrick Henry CC into an 87-72 road victory.

The Flyers improved to 2-0 with their second win over a Region 10, Division II opponent since making the decision to move up from Division III about two weeks ago. The Patriots dropped to 1-1.

Sophomore Derreco Miller led Coach Mike Apple's squad with a double-double that included 17 points and 11 rebounds. Other double-figure scorers were freshmen Dharyus Thomas and Brian Quiller with 15 points apiece, and sophomore Savion Staton with 10. Sophomore Corry Addison was the assist leader with nine.

The Flyers return to action on Wednesday with a 7 p.m. home game against Carolina Christian College of Winston-Salem. They began the COVID-19 delayed regular season with a 120-118 home victory over Guilford Tech CC last Monday.

"We have yet to put a good half together," Apple said upon his return with the team from Martinsville, VA Saturday evening. "I think you have to put a good half together before you can talk about putting a good game together. It's early season basketball in late January, which is unusual, but it is what it is."

The Flyers led for most of the first half, establishing their largest lead at 35-24 with 6:10 remaining until the intermission. The Patriots responded with a 16-3 run and the two teams went into the break tied at 42-42.

The home team maintained as much as a five-point lead during the first 10 minutes of the second half.

"I was very displeased with how we started in the second half," Apple said. "We seemed flat defensively and they got going. We battled back and that's a good character builder to be able to battle adversity. We finally got a lead down the stretch and showed a lot of poise in adding to it."

Trailing 63-62 at the nine-minute mark, the Flyers got a lift off the bench from freshman Jonah Murr who canned a three from the right corner and then a pair of free throws to vault his team into a 67-63 lead it would never relinquish.

In addition to Thomas and Murr, who finished with eight points, 6-foot-9 red-shirt sophomore Will Boyd also helped off the bench in the late going, finishing with eight points and seven boards.

Overall the Flyers made 47.7 per cent of their shots from the field (31-for-65) and 78.3 per cent of their free throws (18-for-23).

"I thought the last 10 minutes were better defensively, but not where we want to be," Apple said. "It's a funny season. It seems like it should be late in the year and this was only our second game. We look like we've played two games and we're not anywhere near where we want to be, but we took some steps.

"It's going to be short and sweet this year - two months, but there is going to be a lot of action."

There will be no spectators allowed for the Carolina Christian College game at The Hangar, but it will be live streamed.

Sandhills CC – Staton 4 2-3 10, Addison 1 2-2 4, Brayboy 3 0-0 7, Miller 6 5-7 17, Quiller 6 3-6 15, Boyd 3 2-2 8, Yow 1 0-0 3, Thomas 5 2-2 15, Murr 2 2-2 8, McKnight 0 0-0 0, Sledge 0 0-0 0 Totals 31 18-23 87. Patrick Henry CC – Mason 3 2-2 8, Jones 6 2-3 18, Edwards 4 1-1 11, Boozer 5 2-4 12, Minter 3 1-2 8, Williams 1 0-0 3, Gardner 1 0-4 2, Saunders 2 0-0 4, Reid 2 1-2 6, Law 0 0-0 0 Totals 27 9-18 72. Three-point Goals: SCC 7 (Thomas 3, Murr 2, Brayboy, Yow); PHCC 9 (Jones 4, Edwards 2, Minter, Williams Reid).  

C. Bergmann