Alice Lloyd Eagles falter late, drop close River States Conference opener at Shawnee State University, 88-79

Portsmouth, OH:  On Tuesday, November 28^th, the Alice Lloyd Eagles journeyed to southern Ohio to face the River States Conferences newest team, the formidable Shawnee State University Bears, who had recently knocked off one of the top teams in the country in Georgetown College.

In this contest, which served as the RSC opener for both squads, Alice Lloyd would lead at the break, only to watch the hosts rally in the second half to pull out an 88-79 decision.

In the opening stanza, the Buckeye squad would pound the ball inside to their imposing big men, Tony Webb and Keith Germain, and use what they called "bully ball" to pull ahead 16-11 by the 13:27 mark.

Thankfully, ALC would utilize their bench and it would pay big dividends as junior forward Devaunte Robinson and freshman guard Landon Napier combine for 14 big points over the next seven minutes to lead a nice 21-7 blitz. Two Napier free throws at 6:29 would give his club a 32-23 advantage.

Later, after sophomore guard Koji Anderson drained two charity tosses at 1:07, the lead reached its zenith of 14 (43-29). Shawnee would close the half with five quick points, but the Eagles would go into intermission holding a 43-34 advantage.

In the second half, the Bears would heat up on offense as the Eagles went ice cold. A 1-12 start from the field by the guests enabled, SSU to claw their way back into the game. When their shooting guard Elkin Ramirez drained a long bomb at 13:53, it capped off a combined first and second half 20-2 advantage. This gave the Portsmouth squad a 50-45 lead.

ALC would utilize a deep bucket from Napier to get within one (53-52) at 10:43, only to see Shawnee roll off a 14-4 burst in just three minutes to pull out to a double-digit lead, 67-56.

The home squad would then proceed to add another 9-2 flurry over the next three minutes as the lead ballooned to 76-58 with just 4:17 on the game clock.

To their credit, the Caney Creek club refused to roll over and promptly went to an all-out press. Incredibly, in just two minutes, sophomore guard Jack Brown and senior guard Jared Strickland converted on several steals, and accounted for all 15 points during a 15-5 burst. Suddenly, the deficit was down to eight (81- 73) with 2:17 remaining.

On the very next possession, things would get really interesting when ALC stole the ball once more and got a good look at a trifecta to slice the deficit even further. Unfortunately, it would rim out, and Shawnee would drain a huge three of their own to finally put the contest out of reach.

For Alice Lloyd (4-2; 0-1 RSC), who would place three players in double figures, Strickland led all scorers with 22 points. He also nabbed 4 steals. He was followed by Napier, who bagged 16 points. Robinson would chip in with 11.

Senior forward Ben Soumahoro added 6 big steals while freshman forward Jackson Tackett led the club with 5 boards. Senior guard Brady Nelson and sophomore guard Koji Anderson both had 2 assists.

The Pippa Passes club shot a season-low 41.1% (30-73) from the field, and were 32.1% (9-28) from beyond the arc. They were also 76.9% (10-13) from the charity stripe. They grabbed 23 rebounds, handed off 10 assists and stole a season-high 18 balls.

The Bears (4-2; 1-0) were led by Tyreke Johnson with 19 points. Their squad shot 56.9% (33-58) from the field and 43.5% (10-23) from beyond the arc. At the free throw line, they finished at 66.7% (12-18). In addition, they added 43 rebounds, handed off 17 assists and stole 5 balls.

The Eagles return to action on Thursday, November 30^th when they host the Boyce College Bulldogs at 6:00pm in non-conference play. They then return to conference action Saturday, December 2^nd when formidable West Virginia Tech University Golden Bears come to Caney Creek. This will be a doubleheader with the women's squad, and tipoff is set for 1:00/ 3:00 p.m.