Alice Lloyd Eagles comeback bid falls short, drop crushing double-overtime contest to Oakland City, 109-105

Pippa Passes, KY:  On Tuesday, January 2nd, the Alice Lloyd Eagles returned home for an RSC matchup with a physical Oakland City Oaks (IN) squad.

The Eagles would trail by fifteen points in the second half and eventually send the game into double overtime before dropping a heartbreaker, 109-105.

In the opening stanza, the visiting Oaks were aggressive, and grabbed a quick lead, 6-0. However, sparked by scoring from senior forward Ben Soumahoro, the hosts would roar back to take a 15-10 advantage.

 From there, OCU rode the scoring of Drake Moore and Sam Muller to roll of a big run of their own. The Indiana squad would outscore the Pippa Passes posse 35-19 the rest of the half and take a 45-34 advantage into the locker room at intermission.

In the second half, the Oaks would score a pair of buckets to extend their advantage to fifteen, 49-34. The hosts appeared dead in the water.

From there, ALC would dig deep and tighten up on defense. In just 4:00, they would unleash a massive spurt, sparked by senior guard Jared Strickland, and junior forward Devaunte Robinson. When sophomore guard Koji Anderson drilled a mid-range jumper at 14:53 to cap off a 16-3 blitz, the Kentucky boys only trailed 52-50.

The Caney Creek club would get within a point on several occasions only to witness Oakland City sink a couple of buckets each time. Eventually, with 4:06 showing on the clock, they trailed 76-69. However, once again the home squad answered.

Soumahoro put the squad on his back and promptly scored six big points. Later, with the Eagles trailing by a deuce (78-76), Strickland drew a foul with just .20 left to play. After swishing both charity tosses, the score was knotted up at 78-78.

Oakland City went to Muller looking for the game winner, but his shot was blocked by Strickland. When Soumahoro ran down the errant shot, he was knocked down with just a half second glaring on the clock.

With a single free throw needed for ALC's first lead of the half, the first one rolled completely around the rim, tantalizingly hanging on the edge, before falling off. When the second toss bounced away, the game now entered overtime.

In OT 1, OCU jumped ahead by five only to watch ALC respond once more to tie (87-87). Finally, with .13 remaining, the Oaks sank a massive bomb to pull ahead, 90-87. Now needing a trifecta to tie, Alice Lloyd found Brady Nelson, and the senior guard coolly bagged a bomb of his own with .03 showing. The clutch shot knotted things at 90-90, forcing a second OT.

In OT2, the hosts edged ahead 95-94 with 3:16 remaining, as they looked to prevail. Unfortunately, OCU sank a couple of huge jumpers, and bagged 7-8 free throws to pull ahead for the 109-105 win.

For Alice Lloyd (8-6, 1-4 RSC), they would place four men in double figures. They were led on the night by Soumahoro, who poured in 29 points on 10-17 shooting before fouling out in the first overtime. He added 6 rebounds and 2 steals.

He was followed by Robinson and Strickland, both with 19 points. Robinson grabbed 5 boards and blocked 2 shots, while Strickland led the team with 7 boards, and 3 steals and joined Robinson with 2 blocks.

 In addition, Nelson added 16 points, while Anderson led the squad with 5 assists, and tied with 3 steals.

On the night, the home team shot just 40.7% (35-86) from the field, 29.6% (8-27) from beyond the arc and 68.4% (26-38) from the charity stripe. They grabbed 47rebounds, handed off 13 assists, stole 9 balls and blocked 5 shots.

The Oaks (7-7; 2-2 RSC) were led by Mullers monster game of 40 points and 17 boards. His squad shot 54.1% (40-74) from the field, 46.2% (6-13) from beyond the arc and 69.7% (23-33) from the charity stripe. They snared 49 rebounds, handed off 17 assists, stole 7 balls, and swatted 8 shots.

The Eagles return to the hardwood Saturday, January 6^th when they journey to Owensboro to face the Brescia Bearcats in an important conference contest. Tipoff is set for 4:00 pm (EST)