Streaking Flyers Host Oxford Emory in Key Region 10 Contest on Saturday
The Sandhills Community College basketball team extended its winning streak to 10 games on Wednesday with a 125-67 victory over Wren College at The Hangar.
The Flyers take an overall record of 20-6, and 6-0 in Region 10, into a 1 p.m. conference game at home on Saturday against Oxford College of Emory University (10-10 and 3-5).
A win clinches the regular season conference title and the first seed for the conference tournament that begins on February 17.
Next week, the Flyers entertain Central Carolina CC on Wednesday, and Dabney S. Lancaster on Saturday, in games that complete the conference regular season schedule.
Led by Joey McMullin with 22 points, eight Flyers scored in double figures against a Black Knights squad from Lancaster, SC that dressed only seven players. The evening before, the Flyers defeated Hosanna Bible College in another non-conference affair.
"These two games were kind of designed to be tuneups for taking us into the home stretch of our conference schedule," Flyers' Head Coach Mike Apple said. "We've got a tough one with Oxford on Saturday because we're familiar with them and they're familiar with us.
"They're a dangerous team. They've got good inside players and they're well-coached."
The Black Knights were assessed a technical foul for arriving late for the game and Camron Zachary swished the two free throws to put the Flyers in front before any time had expired. Later, back-to-back baskets by Darryl McCaster capped an early 17-4 run on the way to a 59-36 halftime lead.
Three baskets by Bryan Quiller, who finished with 17 points, were included in an 8-0 run at the start of the second half. The margin grew to 40 with 9:20 remaining on a basket by K.J. Perry that made it 91-51.
"In a game like this," Apple said, "it's hard to play at a level you want to play at for 40 minutes. What you want to do is stay sharp, get guys in and work on things. I thought we did that better in the second half."
On an evening that the Flyer non-starters accounted for a total of 76 points, Perry, a 6-foot-4 freshman from Concord Academy, finished with a season-high 16.
"K. J. is a hard working guy," his coach said. "He hasn't had the minutes he wants to play, but the thing is you want to make the most of your minutes and he did that tonight."
In the previous game, Perry sank a trey, was fouled, and turned it into a four-point play. He says that he enjoys the the way his teammates are sharing the ball and does not allow himself to get stressed about how much playing time he gets."
"I always practice hard," he said. "I believe in God and I believe he has a plan for everybody. I feel God has my path. I'm putting my faith in him and seeing what happens the next time."
The other double-figures scorers for the Flyers were: McCaster, 13 points, Zachary, 11 and Kendall Wooldridge, Isaiah Nelson and LeNijel Robinson, 10 apiece. A 6-foot guard, Robinson's team-high 12 rebounds produced his second double-double of the season.
The team total of 37 assists was a season-best led by McMullin with six, and McCaster and Alon Hanani with five each. A review of game logs going back to the 2012-13 season indicate the most assists by a Flyer team since that time is 39 on December 5, 2012. That came in a 132-72 victory over the St. Andrews junior varsity. Juwan Jones led the team with seven.
Wren – Furlow 6 3-3 15, Parks 1 0-0 2, Clark 0 0-0 0, Sims 4 4-6 14, Hubbard 6 1-4 15, Cameron 3 0-0 6, Hubbard 7 0-0 15 Totals 27 8-13 67. Sandhills – Hunter 4 0-0 8, McCaster 6 1-2 13, Stoltz 0 0-0 0, Zachary 4 2-2 11, Quiller 8 0-0 17, Wooldridge 4 1-1 10, Perry 6 2-2 16, Hanani 0 0-0 0, McMullin 9 2-3 22, Sledge 4 0-0 8, Nelson 4 2-4 10, Robinson 5 0-0 10 Totals 54 10-14 125. Three-point goals: Wren 5 (Sims 2, Hubbard 2, Hubbard); SCC 7 (Perry 2, McMullin 2, Zachary, Quiller, Wooldridge).
C. Bergmann