Blake Smith
Pippa Passes, KY: The Alice Lloyd College Eagles hosted the highly regarded IU Southeast Grenadiers in River States Conference action Tuesday night. The hosts battled back from a first-half deficit to take the lead, but saw their hopes for victory dashed by a buzzer beater, and fell 87-86.
From the tipoff, the visitors came ready for action and jumped out to a quick 18-8 lead just six minutes in. Even though they trailed the entire half, ALC refused to back down. When freshman guard Noah Young sank two late free throws, Alice Lloyd trailed 44-36 at the break.
Eagle mentor JR Hammond must have said some inspiring words in the locker room because the team came out on the floor like a different team to begin the last half. The hometown squad tightened up their defense and opened on a 12-0 run. Suddenly, the hosts led 48-46, much to the delight of the fans in attendance. The Eagles would continue their inspired play and pull ahead by ten points themselves before IUS began to chip away at the deficit.
With just 8.5 seconds remaining, Eagle sharpshooter Timmy Dalton, who had played his usual outstanding game, was fouled with his team leading 86-84. Incredibly, the hot shooting freshman saw both attempts roll off, giving the Grenadiers one last chance to tie or win the game. After a timeout, Indiana raced down the floor and found guard Jerod Osborne in the left corner. His contested three, which was only his second attempt of the night, found the bottom of the net with 1.2 showing to give his team the stunning victory.
For ALC (8-4; 2-2 RSC), four players reached double figures. They were led in scoring by sophomore guard Blake Smith who finished with 20 points and 6 rebounds while freshman guard Dalton added 17 points and a game-high 9 boards of his own. Senior guard Austin Crisp tallied 13 points and 4 assists while center Jake Allen chipped in with 10 points and 6 rebounds.
Alice Lloyd shot 45.9% (28-61) from the floor and finished an excellent 57.7% (15-26) from behind the arc, but hurt themselves with a disappointing 61.5% (24-39) performance from the foul line. They also added 37 rebounds, 14 assists, and 7 steals.
IUS, (7-5; 2-1 RSC) was led in scoring by guard Joe Jackson with 23 points. His club finished shooting 25.3% (34-65) from the floor and 40.9% (9-22) from behind the arc. They shot 58.8% (10-17) from the foul line, and also added 30 rebounds, 13 assists, and 2 steals.
ALC next returns to action after the holidays on Tuesday, January 2nd for a big conference showdown at Ohio Christian University. Tip-off is set for 7:30 pm.