Ryan House
PIPPA PASSES, KY: The Alice Lloyd College Eagles faced the Asbury University Eagles in an intense River States Conference match at the ALC Campus Center on Thursday, January 10. In a contest that was full of runs, the visitors prevailed 87-80.
The visiting Eagles came out of the gate on fire as they quickly scored the first ten points of the night to lead 10-0. ALC would claw back into contention and get within four (28-24) only to see the deficit grow once again.
Sparked by the long-range shooting of Clif Conley, AU would jump out to a big 48-31 advantage. However, with help from junior guard Blake Smith, a late 10-5 burst from the hosts set the score at 53-41 heading into intermission.
In the second half, Alice Lloyd rode the three-point shooting of senior guard Ryan House to claw their way back into contention. Finally, when junior forward Chance Cornett sank a jumper at 10:06, the contest was knotted up at 66 apiece.
The two squads would continue to trade points. As the clock rolled into the final two minutes, the home club was desperately clinging to a 79-76 edge.
Unfortunately, Conley continued to be a thorn in the home team’s side. First, he sank a jumper to reduce the deficit to just one (79-78). Next, after Alice Lloyd missed a pair of free throws, he promptly drilled a huge trifecta at 1:36. Suddenly his squad led, 81-79.
Smith would earn one point back as he hit 1-2 charity tosses (81-80), but AU’s Trenton Thompson sank a contested jumper with .56 on the clock to put his team ahead 83-80.
When ALC lost the ball on their next possession, Asbury iced the game with 4-4 free throw shooting.
For ALC (7-11; 2-6 RSC), they were led by Smith with 25 points (9-16 FG) and 9 rebounds House shot well and was just behind with 22 points (5-10 3pt FG).
Sophomore guard Noah Young added 12 points and 4 assists while senior forward Simon Christon added 10 points and 9 rebounds. Junior forward Chance Cornett had 3 steals.
Their squad connected on 40.9% (27-66) from the field and 40.7% (11-27) from long range. They hit 65.2% (15-23) from the foul line and added 31 rebounds, 14 assists and 8 steals.
AU (10-7; 4-3 RSC) was led by Conley with 18 points. His club connected on 50.8% (33-65) from the field including 34.6% (9-26) from long range. They hit a perfect 100% (12-12) from the foul line and added 38 rebounds, 13 assists, and 5 steals.
Alice Lloyd will return to the hardwood next week for two huge cross-division conference matchups. Tuesday, January 15th’s game is at the NAIA’s #12 ranked West Virginia Tech Golden Bears at 7:30 pm. They return home on Saturday, January 19th for a 3:00 pm showdown against the Rio Grande Red Storm.