Big Defensive Effort Propels Alice Lloyd to Road Victory

Gallatin, TN: The Alice Lloyd College Eagles overcame a tough shooting night by riding a big defensive effort to take down the home-standing Welch College Flames, 70-60 on Saturday, November 4th.

In the first half, behind 8 quick points from senior forward Ben Soumahoro, the visitors jumped out to an early 9-5 lead. However, over the next ten minutes, WC went on a huge 20-4 run as ALC's offense went frigid.

Trailing 25-13 with 7:34 remaining, the Kentucky boys began to claw their way back into contention. Thanks largely to 19 first half points from Soumahoro, the Eagles were fortunate to only trail 34-31 at intermission.

In the second half, Alice Lloyd came out of the locker room determined to make amends, and they promptly jumped out with a 13-2 burst in the first five minutes to pull ahead, 44-36.

The Caney Creek crew would then use 5 quick points from senior guard Jared Strickland to fuel another run. When fellow senior guard Brady Nelson sank a jumper in the paint with 9:55 on the clock, it capped off a ten-minute 26-6 blitz, and gave his club their largest lead of the night, 57-40.

From that point, the home club fought to come back, and cut into the lead late, but the Eagles were never seriously threatened as they earned the nice road victory.

For Alice Lloyd (2-0), Soumahoro came up big as he just missed a double-double. He poured in 29 points on 11-14 shooting and ripped down 9 rebounds. He was followed in double figures by Strickland who hit 4-7 shots for 11 points, while grabbing 4 boards.

 In addition, sophomore guard Jack Brown and senior forward Blaine Keathley both chipped in with 7 points apiece while Keathley and freshman forward Jackson Tackett both snared 7 boards. Also, sophomore guard Koji Anderson added 3 assists and drained 6 big free throws to help keep the Flames at bay.

On the night, the victorious club shot 42.1% from the floor (24-57), but just 12.5% from long distance (2-16) and 64.5% from the line (20-31). They also grabbed 42 rebounds, handed off 9 assists, swiped 5 steals, and blocked 1 shot. 

Welch (1-2) was led by Hunter Walker with 18 points. His team shot 33.3% (22-66) from the floor, and 26.1% (6-23) from long distance. They did sink 76.9% from the line (10-13), while grabbing 40 rebounds, gaining 10 assists, and picking off 10 steals.