Alice Lloyd Eagles comeback bid falls short, drop close decision to Asbury University, 84-81

Wilmore, KY:  On Saturday, November 18^th, the Alice Lloyd Eagles journeyed to central Kentucky to face a NCAA DIII foe, the Asbury University Eagles. The visitors completely erased a 15-point deficit in the final ten minutes, but came up just short to the host team,84-81.

In the opening stanza, the Pippa Passes posse came out tight and Asbury quickly seized advantage. Behind the play of forward Dakota Walden, AU would race out to an early lead. ALC countered with 10 points from sophomore guard Jack Brown, but the host club would sink 7-15 from behind the arc, and go into intermission with a 46-37 advantage. The visiting Eagles were hurt immensely by 0-9 accuracy from long range.

In the second half, the Wilmore crew turned to strongman Dakota Winter, who poured in 15 big points. Later, when guard Ben McNew sank a bucket with 9:12 left, it gave the hosts a commanding 68-53 cushion. For all intents and purposes, the game appeared over.

However, with their backs against the wall, the visiting Eagles responded. Sparked by a nine-point flurry from Brown, ALC scrapped their way back. Eventually, when senior forward Ben Soumahoro connected on a shot in the paint with 2:56 left in the contest, it capped off a 23-8 blitz, and tied the contest at 76-76.

 On the next Asbury possession, they found Winter inside, and his bucket gave his club the lead, 78-76. Then, after ALC missed two good looks on the ensuing possession, AU brought the ball down looking for a open shot.  They would get the ball to Walden and he drained a huge trifecta to give his club an 81-76 advantage with just 1:58 showing.

ALC would quickly get the ball to Soumahoro who drained a key shot to slice the score to 81-78. Then, after a defensive stop, freshman forward Jackson Tackett would split a pair of charity attempts with 25 ticks remaining (81-79). Unfortunately, the Bluegrass team would sink 3-4 free throws to seal the game.

For Alice Lloyd (4-1), they would place three players in double figures. They were paced on the night by Brown, who pumped in a career high 23 points. He also swatted 3 shots and handed off 3 assists. He was followed by junior forward Devaunte Robinson, who was a perfect 5-5 from the floor for 11 points.

Soumahoro added 10 points, and 8 boards while fellow senior Jared Strickland chipped in with 8 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 steals.

The Pippa Passes club shot 50% (34-68) from the field, but a frigid 14.3% (2-14) from beyond the arc. They were also 73.3% (11-15) from the charity stripe. They snared 38 rebounds, handed off 11 assists, stole 8 balls, and blocked 6 shots.

Asbury (3-0) was led by Winter and Walden with 19 and 18 points respectively. Their squad shot 41.5% (27-65) from the field, 36.4% (8-22) from beyond the arc. They won the game at the free throw line by drilling 88% (22-25). In addition, they added 29 rebounds, handed off 18 assists and stole 4 balls.

The Eagles are off until November 28^th when they travel to Portsmouth Ohio to open River States Conference action against powerful Shawnee State University. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.