ALC Eagles Open Basketball Season with Victory

{nl}Alice Lloyd’s Nick Brumback shoots for 2 of his 28 points.{nl}The Alice Lloyd College Eagles basketball team opened the 2009-10 campaign on a high note as they rolled to an entertaining 123-115 victory over the Hiwassee Tigers. The matchup was played Saturday afternoon at the Grady Nutt Athletic Center.{nl}Coach J.R. Hammond showed that he plans to play an up-tempo brand of ball, and the fans in attendance definitely got their money’s worth as nine Eagle players reached double figures in the scorebook.{nl}The game started out fast paced as both clubs scored early and often. The Tigers, sparked by the tandem of Adrian McLaurin and Nick Hudson, started from the tipoff at a breakneck pace and quickly began to pile up the points.  ALC countered with the inside play of big sophomore Nick Brumback and the guard play of lone senior Keith Warner and junior Daniel Combs to fight back. Combs connected on 7 consecutive points in a one minute span to give the Eagles a 42-40 lead with just over 7:00 remaining. Unfortunately, Combs severely sprained his ankle on the next possession and his status for next week is uncertain. Alice Lloyd closed the half on a 27-14 run to take a 69-54 lead into intermission.{nl}In the second half, Hiwassee slowly started to chip away at the ALC lead.  McLaurin began to take over the contest, and his aggressive play allowed the Tigers to tie the game at 92 with just over 8 minutes remaining.  {nl}Reeling from Hiwassee’s knock-out punch, the young Eagles’ fought back. First, Brumback began to dominate inside the paint.  When the Tiger’s desperately dropped to stop Brumback, sophomore guards Van Ferguson and Michael Lindon each connected on key buckets.  Down the stretch, junior Casey Dalton, sophomore Brandon Hayes, and the freshmen duo of Logan Bryant, and Brandon Brugraff provided inspired play from the bench. Their cumulative efforts allowed the Eagles to increase their lead and pull out the victory.{nl}For Alice Lloyd, Brumback (Jackson Co.)  had a monster game.  The junior finished the contest with 28 points on 10-14 field goals and 8-10 free throws.  He completed his nights work by ripping down a game high of 10 rebounds.  {nl}In an incredible display of balance scoring, eight other Eagles joined Brumback in double figures.  Dalton (Pulaski Southwestern) and Ferguson (Paintsville) each added 13.  Warner (Fort Blackmore, VA), Lindon (Red Fox), and Hayes (Jackson) contributed 12 apiece.{nl}Brugraff (Red Jacket, WV) and Combs (Hazard) each added 11 while Bryant (Dorton) finished with 10 points and 4 assists.{nl}For the game, the Eagles connected on 41-63 from the field for a blistering 65% including 7-13 from downtown.  They also connected on 34-46 from the charity stripe for 73.9%.  {nl}The Tigers were paced by McLaurin who finished with a game high of 37 points.  Hudson added 24 and Shondre Guest had 21.{nl}“I felt that all of the kids left everything on the floor tonight “said victorious coach Hammond.  “It was good to see players step up when their teammates suffer injuries, and was good to see us fight back after Hiwassee tied the game.  We still have a lot of room for improvement, but this was a good start to our season and will hopefully prepare us for Tuesday’s contest.”The Eagles return to the hardwood on Tuesday November 3rd, when they face the highly regarded Kentucky Christian University Knights. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:00.