Flyers Fall to the Storm In Match-up Between Top 10 Ranked Teams

Leading by seven points early in the second half on Sunday, the Sandhills Community College basketball team suddenly couldn't buy a basket and went on to suffer its first loss of the season 96-82 at Davidson-Davie CC.

The No. 7 ranked in NJCAA Division II Flyers dropped to 6-1 in Region 10 and 7-1 overall while the No. 2 Storm improved to 7-0 and 8-1.

Coach Mike Apple's squad is back in action on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. tip-off at The Hangar against a Louisburg College team that is 3-1 in the region and 3-2 overall. No spectators will be allowed, but the action will be streamed live.

"Louisburg is coming off a pause because of Covid related issues," Apple said. "However, they were one of the favorites coming into this season so we'll have our hands full with them on Wednesday."

The Flyers quickly fell behind 12-2 against the Storm, but freshman Dharyus Thomas capped a 10-0 burst with two threes in a row to tie things up at 12-12. The two teams were never more than five points apart after that during a half that ended on a pair of free throws by Ahmad McKnight that gave the visitors a 50-47 lead.

A jumper by Corry Addison, followed by a dunk in transition by Derreco Miller, upped the Flyer advantage to 54-47 with 18:33 remaining in the game. But the Storm outscored them 17-5 over the next eight minutes to go in front 64-59.

The Storm took their first double-digit lead of the half at 72-61 with 7:25 remaining. The Flyers got back in contention at 81-74 at the 4:21 mark on a pair free throws by Camron Zachary before six points in a row by the home team increased the margin to 13.

"We did a good job in the first half of pushing the ball and playing Sandhills basketball," Apple said. "For whatever reason, in the second half our offense stagnated and I really think that had more to do with them getting tougher on us."

Thomas led the Flyers, who scored only 32 points after the intermission, with 19 points. Addison scored 12 points. Nasir Johnson and Jonah Murr added 10 each. Addison also led the team with eight rebounds and five assists.

Freshman Bryan Quiller, who leads the Flyers in scoring, missed the game because of a family funeral.

This was the first meeting between the former Region 10 Division III rivals since the Flyers defeated the Storm 112-106 in overtime on February 25, 2018 in the championship game of the Region 10 tournament. The Storm moved up to Division II the next season.

Sandhills CC – Addison 6 0-0 12, Brayboy 3 2-2 8, Thomas 6 4-6 19, Miller 2 0-0 4, Boyd 1 0-0 2, Staton 1 0-3 3, Johnson 4 2-3 10, Yow 1 0-0 2, Zachary 1 5-6 7, Murr 4 0-0 10, McKnight 0 2-2 2, Murphy 0 3-4 3, Sledge 0 0-0 0 Totals 29 18-26 82. Davidson-Davie CC – Jones 9 8-9 28, Rogers 3 0-0 8, Boulware 1 0-1 3, Suggs 3 0-0 8, Pruett 1 2-2 4, Scriven 5 4-9 14, Thompson 2 3-4 8, Baltimore 4 2-5 10, Dupree 5 0-1 11, Tillman 1 0-0 2 Totals 36 11-15, 96. Three-point goals: SCC 6 (Thomas 4, Staton, Yow); DDCC 9 (Jones 2, Rogers 2, Suggs 2, Boulware, Thompson, Dupree).  

C. Bergmann