Flyers Advance to Friday's Region 10 Tournament Title Game Against the Cougars
The Sandhills Community College basketball team advanced to Friday's 7 p.m. Region 10 Tournament championship game with a 104-101 victory over Dabney S. Lancaster at The Hangar on Thursday evening.
Coach Mike Apple's squad (24-7) entertains Central Carolina CC (14-12), an 83-62 winner over Oxford Emory in Thursday's other semi-final.
The 10th ranked in Division III Flyers overcame an 11-point second half deficit against an upset-minded Road Runners squad that had lost all nine of its regular season conference games.
The contest wasn't finally decided until a potential game-tying shot by one of the Road Runners missed the mark as time expired.
Bryan Quiller scored 20 points, and Kendall Wooldridge contributed 19, along with eight rebounds and five assists, as the Flyers won their 10th conference game in a row. Chris Hunter with 16 points, Joey McMullin with 14 and Camron Zachary with 11, were other double-figure scorers for the home team.
The visitors completed their season with an overall record of 11-16.
"The old adage, survive and advance, I guess comes in pretty early today," Apple said later. "We didn't come ready to play, but Dabney Lancaster was very ready to play.
"We didn't give up and our crowd certainly helped us come back tonight. We'll need every ounce of that tomorrow night."
The team from Clifton Forge, VA sank eight of its 12 threes in the game in the first half to take a 52-45 lead into the intermission.
With just over 19 minutes remaining in the game, the sixth and seventh treys by Dayshawn Hamilton, who finished with a game-high 28 points, gave the Road Runners their largest lead at 58-47.
Later, trailing 78-69 with just over 12 minutes remaining, a basket by McMullin started a 13-2 run that gave the Flyers their first lead of the second half.
Alon Hanani made a three, and was credited with a steal and two assists during the burst that put the home team in front 82-80 at the eight-minute mark.
The score was tied one more time before the Flyers, exhorted by the largest home crowd of the season, rallied again to up their lead to 101-93 on a baseline drive by Quiller with 1:16 remaining.
Road Runner shooters were fouled twice down the stretch on three-point attempts, and converted all six free throws, contributing to the anxious final seconds for the home team.
The Flyers will be seeking their fourth win of the season over a Central Carolina squad that was 6-3 in the conference during the regular season and has won five of its last six games.
Saturday's winner will face the Region 20 tournament winner (to be decided on Sunday) in Largo, MD next week for the Mid-Atlantic District title and an automatic bid to the national tournament.
DSL - Rawlings 4 4-9 12, Hamilton 8 5-5 28, Hudson 6 6-7 19, Lasley 7 8-10 23, McCrary 7 0-0 14, Johnsen 0 0-0 0, Garrett 1 0-2 2 Totals 33 23-33 101, Sandhills – Wooldridge 8 1-1 19, Hanani 1 0-0 3, McCaster 2 1-4 5, Zachary 2 7-10 11, Quiller 8 4-8 20, Perry 3 0-0 7, Hunter 5 6-7 16, Coleman 1 0-2 2, McMullin 6 1-2 14, Sledge 2 3-6 7 Totals 38 23-40 104. Three-point goals: DSL 12 (Hamilton 7, McCrary 3, Hudson, Lasley); SCC 5 (Wooldridge 2, Hanani, Perry, McMullin).
C. Bergmann