Flyers Fall to Combine Academy - Host Conference Tournament Game on Thursday

The Sandhills Community College basketball team looks ahead to the Region 10 conference tournament after a 97-83 loss to Combine Academy at The Hangar on Tuesday evening that snapped its 13-game winning streak.

Trailing by just a point at halftime against the prep squad from Lincolnton, the Flyers went on to fall behind by as many as 21 points before closing the gap to 11 points with three minutes remaining in the game.

The Goats penetrated the Flyer defense throughout for layups and won the battle on the boards as well.

Joey McMullin connected on nine of his 11 shots from the field and led the Flyers with 23 points. Bryan Quiller added 16 along with a team-high eight rebounds.

Ranked No. 10 in this week's NJCAA Division III poll, the conference regular-season champion Flyers (9-0 conference, 23-7 overall) entertain Dabney S. Lancaster CC (0-9, 11-14), the fourth seed, at 7 p.m. on Thursday in one of the conference tournament semi-final contests.

Also on Thursday, No. 2 Central Carolina CC (6-3, 15-12) and No. 3 Oxford Emory (3-6, 13-11), meet at 7 p.m. in Sanford in the other semi final.

A win by the Flyers puts them in the 7 p.m. championship game against one of those two teams at The Hangar on Friday.

The conference tournament champion advances to a one-game Middle Atlantic District playoff game in Largo, Md against the Region 20 champion that will qualify that winner for the national tournament in Rockford, IL on March 9-12.

Quiller helped the Flyers get off to a positive start on Tuesday by scoring the first five points of the game on a three and a pair of free throws. Five minutes into the game, a three by Kendall Wooldridge put the home team ahead 17-8.

But the Goats scored the next nine points to draw even. From there, the two teams were never more than six points apart in a half the ended with the visitors on top 45-44.

The Goats made their move with about 15 minutes remaining in the game. They outscored the Flyers 26-8 over the next seven minutes, extending a two-point lead to 20.

Coming off a winning streak that included many one-sided wins, Flyers' Coach Mike Apple thought the timing was good for his team to face the talented prep squad.

"We needed to play a good team," he said. "We played conference games that were important games for sure. This was an ultra-talented team and they came in here and showed us some things we really need to correct for the tournament that's coming up.

"We didn't give up. We cut the lead to 11, but we just didn't have the fire power to match them tonight."

Isaiah Nelson missed the game with an injured knee and the freshman forward's status is day-to-day. 

"We're a little thin right now," the Flyers Coach said of an injury list that took his team into the game with 10 available players. "But if any team is ready for the tournament right now, I think it's Sandhills."

Combine Academy – Cooper 11 1-2 25, Evans 7 0-0 15, Williams 9 3-5 21, Weakly 5 0-0 10, Smith 1 2-2 4, Brown 7 2-3 16, Ndiaye 2 0-0 4, Zmujdzin 1 0-0 2 Totals 43 8-12 97. Sandhills – Wooldridge 5 0-0 12, Hunter 2 2-2 6, McCaster 3 3-4 9, Zachary 3 3-4 9, Quiller 5 5-6 16, Perry 2 1-2 5, Hanani 0 1-2 1, Coleman 1 0-2 2, McMullin 9 3-4 23, Sledge 0 0-0 0 Totals 30 18-26 83. Three-point goals – CA 3 (Cooper 2, Evans); SCC 5 (Wooldridge 2, McMullin 2, Quiller)

C. Bergmann