Flyers (5-0) Prevail Over Trojans in Tense Struggle
In a second half that the lead changed hands 10 times, the Sandhills Community College basketball team overcame a three-point deficit in the final 2:44 and defeated Fayetteville Tech 81-76 on the road Wednesday evening.
Ranked No. 16 in this week's NJCAA Division II poll, the Flyers improved to 5-0 overall and 4-0 in Region 10 while the Trojans dropped to 1-1 overall and in the region.
Next on the schedule is a 3 p.m. game on Saturday at The Hangar against Lenior CC (0-2, 0-2).
"I think anytime you play on the road in a conference situation, or region in our case, and come out with a win, it's a feather in your cap," Flyers' Coach Mike Apple said upon his return to the campus late Wednesday. "It's a game as a coach I put a lot of emphasis on to try win. I give credit to our guys for doing that."
In the contest held at Reid Ross Classical School in Fayetteville, the Flyers trailed by as many as eleven points before taking a 38-36 lead into the intermission. Behind 74-71 at the 2:44 mark of the second half, the decisive rally by the Flyers began with a three by Dharyus Thomas that tied the game at 70-70.
The Trojans briefly retook the lead with a pair of free throws, but the Flyers knotted it up again when Derreco Miller scored in transition off a pass from Thomas.
Then with 1:32 remaining, the seventh steal of the game by Savion Staton was turned into a pair of free throws by Miller. The Flyers got the ball right back when Bryan Quiller took a charge and moments later the freshman scored off a pass from Corry Addison to make it 76-72.
In the final 40 seconds, Staton and Quiller combined to go 5-for-6 from the free throw stripe to wrap it up.
Quiller finished with a team-high 19 points followed by Miller with 18. Will Boyd was 5-for-6 from the field and scored 11 points with five rebounds and three blocked shots. The seven steals by Staton in back-to-back games has the sophomore in a tie for first place in Division II at 5.0 per game.
At a scrimmage held in November at The Hangar, the Trojans exploded in the second half to defeat the Flyers 133-104.
"The guys remembered that and I think in their heads they wanted to do better," Apple said. "We battled adversity the whole game tonight. We were always down and kind of behind in fouls. It was nip and tuck the whole way and we just found a way at the end to get ahead and stay ahead."
All of the players wore masks while on the court for the first time in a game.
"It was different wearing the masks," Apple said. "We practiced with them on Monday and Tuesday in preparation. I don't think it caused our players a lot of stress."
Sandhills CC – Addison 4 2-2 10, Brayboy 1 1-2 3, Thomas 3 1-1 9, Miller 8 2-4 18, Quiller 8 3-4 19, Staton 1 3-6 5, Johnson 0 0-0 0, Yow 0 0-0 0, Zachary 0 0-0 0, Murr 1 0-0 2, Boyd 5 1-2 11, Murphy 0 0-0 0, Sledge 2 0-0 4 Totals 33 13-21 81. Fayetteville Tech – McCallum 3 4-4 10, Minott 0 2-2 2, I. Lewis 5 9-12 21, C. Lewis 1 3-4 6, Jones 5 1-4 11, K. Mack 0 0-0 0, Johnson 3 0-0 6, Carey 6 4-8 17, Eddie 1 1-2 3 Totals 24 24-36 76. Three-point goals: (SCC) 2 (Thomas 2); FTCC 4 (I. Lewis 2, C. Lewis, Carey).
C. Bergmann