Alice Lloyd Eagles drop close contest to West Virginia Tech University, 87-79

Pippa Passes, KY:  On Saturday, December 2nd, the Alice Lloyd Eagles played host to a tough West Virginia Tech Golden Bear squad in River States Conferences play. The contest was tight throughout, but the visitors would ride solid free throw shooting to defeat the Eagles, 87-79.

In the opening stanza, after falling behind 5-2, the home squad would roll off a 9-2 burst, sparked by 5 consecutive points from senior guard Jared Strickland, and jump ahead 14-7 with 13:31 on the clock.

However, sparked by hot shooting from Andrew Work and Braden Chapman, Tech would roll off a massive 21-5 blitz. Suddenly, at the 7:48 mark, the Golden Bears led 28-19.

From there, they would fight to hold their advantage, and sink a shot just ahead of the buzzer to enter the half with a 38-32 lead.

In the second stanza, the Pippa Passes posse would see senior forward Ben Soumahoro score 4 quick points in three minutes to get his crew within 3 (42-39). Tech then rode the play of Work to answer right back with a 10-0 spurt of their own. With 14:46 left to play, the visitors now led 52-39.

ALC would fight to get back in the game. Freshman forward Jackson Tackett would come off the bench and provide a great spark as he drained shots from both inside the paint and outside the arc. Later, when Eagle sophomore guard Wilgus Tolson swished two charity tosses, the deficit was reduced to just 4 (74-70).

Unfortunately, Tech would use the clock and force the home team to foul. They would clinch the game by sinking 11-12 from the foul line.

 Alice Lloyd (5-3; 0-2 RSC), would place three players in double figures. They were led on the day by Tackett, who poured in a career high 22 points. All of them came in the second half. He hit 7-9 shots, including 3-5 from deep, and also nabbed 6 boards.

Senior forward Ben Soumahoro added 16 points and led the team with 8 rebounds. Strickland added 14 points, and was joined by sophomore guard Jack Brown, junior guard Jacob Curry and senior guard Brady Nelson with 2 assists each. Sophomore guard Koji Anderson had 3 steals, while Brown had 2 blocks.

The Pippa Passes club shot 46.2% (30-65) from the field, and 25% (6-24) from beyond the arc. They were also 81.3% (13-16) from the charity stripe. They snared just 26 rebounds, handed off 13 assists, stole 11 balls, and blocked 2 shots.

WVU (5-3, 1-1 RSC) was led by Work and Chapman with 27 points apiece. Their squad shot 48.3% (29-60) from the field, and 33.3% (8-24) from beyond the arc. They won the game at the free throw line by drilling 77.8% (21-27). In addition, they added 45 rebounds, handed off 15 assists and stole 3 balls.

The Eagles will travel to Tennessee Tech University tomorrow for an exhibition contest against the NCAA DI club at 4:00 pm. They will then get some much-needed rest until December 9^th when they journey to Pittsburg (PA) for a matchup against the RSC's only undefeated club, the Point Park Pioneers. Tipoff is set for 3:00 pm.