Oakland City, IN: The Alice Lloyd College Eagles placed six players in double figures and earned a convincing road victory over the Oakland City (IN) Mighty Oaks, 100-87. With the win, the Eagles extracted some measure of revenge over a squad they lost to a week earlier at the wire, 90-87. This second River States Conference contest was held in the Hoosier state on Saturday, January 23rd.
In the opening half, senior guard Noah Young got ALC off to a blazing start as he scored 11 points and dished off 3 assists in the first six minutes to help the visitors raced out to an 18-12 lead. Unfortunately, the hosts would keep cool and fight back to take their first lead of the night, 34-33, on a triple from Beau Hefner at the 4:46 mark.
Fortunately, the Kentucky boys would answer. A late bucket from sophomore forward Damon Tobler capped off a 14-7 run to finish the half and helped the Eagles pull ahead, 47-41, at intermission, In the second half, the Eagles would come out of the locker room determined not to have a repeat of the previous matchup. Over the opening 4:06, they would clamp down on the defensive end, while on offense, unleash a quick 12-4 spurt. Suddenly, Alice Lloyd led 59-45
Oakland City would answer with a couple of quick buckets to get within ten (59-49), but junior center Colyn Sturgill, junior guard Chandler Stewart, junior guard Bryce Slone, and sophomore guard Jared Strickland would get in on the action, and help the Pippa Passes crew explode to a commanding 83-62 lead with 8:02 remaining. From that point, the Caney Creek club was never challenged again as they earned the satisfying victory.
For the balanced Eagles (10-3), six players reached double figures. They were led on the night by Young with 22 points on 8-12 field goals. He just missed a double-double, as he also dished off 9 assists. Strickland played a solid game, connecting on 7-10 field goals and 4-4 free throws for 19 big points. He was followed closely by Stewart, with 17 points (7-15FG), 4 rebounds, and 3 steals.
Slone drilled 4-7 long bombs and finished with 13 points. Sturgill was a monster all night as he scored 11 points (5-9FG), and ripped down 14 huge rebounds to complete the double-double. Tobler chipped in with 10 points and snared 9 boards of his own.
ALC shot 54.1% (40-74) from the field and 40.9 (9-22) from long range. They sank 64.7% from the foul line (11-17), and added 46 rebounds, 19 assists, and 8 steals.
For OCU (4-12), DJ Redding led the way with 16 points. His club finished shooting 45% (27-60) from the floor and 35.3% (6-17) from behind the arc. They hit 64.3% (27-42) from the foul line while adding 34 rebounds, 16 assists, and 7 steals.
ALC returns to action this week in four big matchups. On Monday, the 25th, they travel to Knoxville to face the Johnson University Royals at 5:00 pm. They return home Tuesday the 26th when they host Brescia University in a doubleheader with the Lady Eagles, at 7:30 pm. Thursday the 28th, they host Campbellsville University-Somerset at 6:00 pm. The Eagles then close out the week on Saturday the 30th in a doubleheader with the Asbury Eagles. Tipoff is scheduled for 3:00 pm