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Men Upset IU East While Lady Eagles Extend Winning Streak

by Anthony Sizemore, Student Sportswriter

Alice Lloyd celebrated its annual Senior Day festivities on Saturday, February 16th, at the College’s Grady Nutt Athletic Center. Prior to the big games, ALC’s senior student-athletes were honored in front of the home crowd. For men’s basketball, the Eagles showed their appreciation to Bill Deaton and burly, all-important center Terry Muse. Brittney Briggs and Rachael Lindon, co-captains of the ALC Cheerleading squad, were also recognized, along with Dance Team member Chelsea Bush. Afterwards, it was time for some basketball action in what would be the final regular season games for both ball clubs.

Tyler Rogers rises over his IU defender for the jumpshot.

The Alice Lloyd Eagles welcomed the KIAC‘s second ranked team, the Indiana University East Red Wolves. The hosts came out of the gates ready to play and would win a huge, nail-biting contest, 71-68.

The game was very tight in the opening stanza as the biggest lead was only 5 points. Alice Lloyd led for most of the first half until IU East captured the lead with five and a half minutes to go, 26-25. ALC stayed right with the Wolves, though, as they only trailed by 2 at intermission, 34-32.  

The home team would make a huge run to open the second half. The Eagles took the lead with sixteen minutes to go in the game as they went on a 25-9 run to make it 54-43 with ten minutes to play. IU East engineered a comeback to take a 1-point lead, 63-62, with just over two minutes remaining. ALC scored on the ensuing possession with a three-pointer by Justin Hobbs that would give them the lead the rest of the way. IU East had one last chance to tie the game, but Marcus Isaac could not get the trifecta to go.

For the victors, (11-18, 4-12 KIAC), Tyler Rogers played in beast mode. He scored 24 points, hauled down18 rebounds, and added 5 blocks. Stuart Stamper had 14 points, and Muse put in a respectable performance in his last home game with 11 points and 8 rebounds.

Huston Clark led IU East (19-10, 9-5 KIAC) with 25 points.

 
The Alice Lloyd Eagles will be the eighth seed going into the KIAC tournament that commences next week. They will travel to top-ranked Indiana University Southeast for a showdown on Saturday, February 23rd.

Following the men’s game, the Alice Lloyd Lady Eagles squared off against conference foe Midway College. The women won their regular season finale at home, 88-75.

Nickell fights for the opening tip.

The home team came into this one looking to make it four wins in a row. In the first half, ALC would score the first basket and raced out to an early lead. However, Midway tied it at 16 with nine and a half minutes to play. The Lady Eagles (17-10, 10-5 KIAC) regained the lead and would extend their advantage to 11, 30-19, with five minutes to go. MC would again make a run to keep things close as the home team only led by 2 at the break, 37-35.

In the second half, Midway (8-19, 5-9 KIAC) would take over the lead for a brief period. Alice Lloyd trailed by 6 with just under fifteen minutes to play. After that, the home team went on a 19-4 run that would give them the lead for good at 60-51 with eleven minutes left in the contest. From there, ALC would maintain the gap over the visitors and extend it to double figures late.

Nickell and Booth

Ariel Nickell played at a top-notch level once again, furthering her cause for Player of the Year. The junior forward scored 31 points and corralled 14 rebounds. Carla Booth played a terrific game as well, with 31 points, 3 assists, and 3 steals.

Shantel Cherry was Midway’s leading scorer with 13 points.

The victory cements the Alice Lloyd Lady Eagles’ status as the second seed behind Point Park going into next week’s KIAC Tournament. ALC will host Midway once again in quarterfinal action on Saturday, February 23rd. Tipoff is set for 2 PM. Tickets will be available at the door ($5 adults; $2 students; with student ID, ALC and JBS students may attend the game for $1).