Tobler Buzzer Beater Lifts Alice Lloyd to Thrilling 84-82 Victory Over Asbury

Pippa Passes, KY: Junior forward Damon Tobler swished an 18-foot jump shot with just three-tenths of a second remaining to lift the Alice Lloyd Eagles to a thrilling 84-82 victory over a strong Asbury University Eagle squad Tuesday night. The matchup occurred on January 10^th in the Perry Campus Center on "Coach J Court."

In the opening half, the squad from Wilmore came out on fire from long range and quickly grabbed the lead. When guard Ben McNew sank his club's eighth bomb of the night with 8:53 left in the half, his team led 32-23. Fortunately, at that point, ALC's bench would provide a massive spark.

Over the next five minutes, the Caney Creek club's depth would shine as the bench began to tickle the twine. Eventually, a jumper at 3:38, courtesy of junior guard Jared Strickland, capped off a 21-10 burst and gave Alice Lloyd their first lead of the night (44-42).

Sparked by a combined 23 first-half points from freshman guard Koji Anderson and Tobler, ALC would take a 53-47 lead into intermission.

In the second half, the homestanding Eagles would use the board work of senior forward Will Philpot and a deep bomb from senior guard Bryce Slone at 14:40 to take their largest lead of the game (65-56). However, Asbury promptly responded.

The visitors would ride the play of leading scorer Nick Fort to claw their way back. They would eventually regain the lead at 73-72 with 8:14 remaining and force a timeout from the home club.

ALC would fight back and see Tobler sink three consecutive shots. Later, after stopping Asbury on defense, Anderson would draw a foul on penetration to the hoop at 2:20, and coolly sink both to knot the score at 80-80.

At .59, AU's Fort would score on a drive to put the central Kentucky squad ahead (82-80), only to watch Tobler answer yet again with a drive of his own at .47 (82-82).

With the crowd now on their feet, imploring ALC to get a stop, they delivered with a show of great teamwork and forced a miss. Anderson retrieved the errant shot and called timeout at .15.

With their fate now in their own hands, Alice Lloyd got the ball to junior guard Ben Soumahoro on the wing. The guard used the clock wisely before finally driving to the paint and drawing a double team. Soumahoro calmly found the open Tobler parked 17 feet from the goal on the right wing, and the burly junior delivered the sweet shot to chalk the victory up for the Pippa Passes posse.

For the Eagles (8-7), they were led by Tobler with 20 points, sinking 9-13 shots. Anderson finished with 18 points (7-14 FG), while Strickland chipped in with ten more while adding five rebounds.

Philpot finished with 8 points, 12 rebounds, and three steals, while junior forward Noah Caudill contributed 9 points, five rebounds, and two steals. Sophomore guard Brady Nelson dished off three assists.

Alice Lloyd shot 51.5% (35-58) from the floor and 28.6% (6-21) from behind the arc. They finished 53% (8-15) from the foul line while adding 40 rebounds, 14 assists, and nine steals.

Asbury (13-3), who has lost twice this season to their Pippa Passes foes, was led by Fort with 21 points. His club shot 48.5% (31-66) from the floor and a blistering 48% (16-33) from behind the arc. They were also 80% (4-5) from the foul line and had 24 rebounds, 13 assists, and one steal.

Alice Lloyd plays their next game on Saturday, January 14th, when they travel to Richmond, Indiana, to battle the Indiana University East Red Wolves in important RSC play. Tipoff is set for 3:00 pm.