Alice Lloyd Eagles pull away down stretch, defeat Asbury University, 88-78

Pippa Passes, KY:  On Tuesday, January 8^th, the Alice Lloyd Eagles returned home to face a familiar foe, the NCAA DIII Asbury University Eagles. The host club rode the one-two punch of seniors Ben Soumahoro and Jared Strickland to pull away in the last five minutes for the nice 88-78 victory.

When these two evenly matched squads get together, it is always an entertaining slugfest, and this time was no exception. In the opening stanza, behind 11 points courtesy of the Soumahoro/Strickland duo, the Pippa Passes posse came out solid, leaping to an 18-13 advantage in the first seven minutes.

 Over the next three minutes, Asbury rolled off a 10-0 burst to pull ahead, 23-18. Later, when leading scorer Dakota Wallen, bagged two charity tosses at 6:14 to cap off a 20-6 blitz, the AU lead had reached its zenith (33-24).

However, the Caney Creek boys would not wilt. Freshman guard Daniel Carmical came off the ALC bench to drill consecutive bombs and fuel a resurgence. Finally, when sophomore guard Koji Anderson connected on a driving layup at the 2:53 mark, the hometown men had regained the lead, 36-35. The squads then traded points until a last-second Asbury hoop set the halftime score at 42-42.

In the second half, the squads traded scores until the board read 51-48 Asbury, at 15:40. From there, the Pippa Passes posse would see Soumahoro pour in 9 points in just under three minutes, to propel his team on an 11-0 blitz. The run was bookended by posturizing dunks from the athletic forward and lifted his mates to a 58-51 lead.

Once again, the team from Wilmore answered back as they went on a 10-2 burst to retake the lead( 61-60) at the 9:24 juncture. Eventually, as the clock went below the five-minute mark, the contest was tied one final time at 73-73 with just 4:27 remaining in the game. At this critical point, the men in the white and blue jerseys uncorked their haymaker punch.

On the next possession, senior guard Brady Nelson drained a huge trifecta to give his team a 79-76 lead. Then after a big defensive stop, Soumahoro drove to the paint, drew the defense, and kicked the ball to his buddy Strickland in the corner. The guard swished a three and was fouled, delivering a huge four-point play. Now, ALC was up 80-73.

After the two squads each traded charity tosses to make the score 82-75, Strickland buried another huge bomb on another Soumahoro assist at 1:12 to put the hosts ahead double-digits, and place the contest out of reach.

For Alice Lloyd (9-7), they would place two players in double figures. They were led on the night by Soumahoro, who delivered a monster performance of 29 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals. He drained 9-15 field goals and 11-12 free throws.  Strickland swished 7-13 attempts, including 5-9 trifectas, and added 20 points.

In addition, Nelson came off the bench to chip in 9 points while senior forward Blaine Keathley was also big off the bench with 8 points, 1 block, and 8 boards of his own. Freshman guard Landon Napier joined Soumahoro with 2 steals on the night.

The Pippa Passes club shot 43.9% (29-66) from the field, and 36% (9-25) from beyond the arc. They were an excellent 87.5% (21-24) from the charity stripe, which proved crucial. Additionally, they snared 45 huge rebounds, handed off 17 assists, stole 7 balls, and blocked 1 shot.

Asbury (9-8) was led by Walden with 16 points. His squad shot 46.9% (30-64) from the field, 27.6% (8-29) from beyond the arc, and a perfect 100% (10-10) from the foul line. In addition, they added 27 rebounds, handed off 18 assists, and stole 9 balls.

The Eagles return to action against River States Conference for Indiana University East on Saturday, January 13th. Tipoff is set for 3:00 p.m.