Nelson and Napier spark Alice Lloyd Eagles to thrilling 71-69 overtime victory over Rio Grande University

Pippa Passes, KY:  Senior guard Brady Nelson and freshman guard Landon Napier delivered the goods down the stretch, and sparked the Alice Lloyd Eagles to a thrilling 71-69 overtime-comeback victory over the Rio Grande Red Storm. The contest took place on Tuesday, February 13^th.

In the opening stanza, the hosts scored the first two buckets of the game to jump ahead 5-0.  Later, at 13:26, the Eagles still led 13-10. Unfortunately, that would soon change.

From that juncture, the home club would turn ice-cold.  Rio would take full advantage as they turned to forward Trent Hundley who led his club on a 10-0 run in a span of six minutes. The Buckeye crew would pull ahead 20-13 with 7:54 remaining.

For the rest of the half, the hoop remained unkind to ALC as they had difficulty finding the bottom of the bucket. They would eventually be outscored 23-9 over the final thirteen minutes, and would enter the dressing room at intermission trailing 33-22. Things definitely looked bleak.

In the second half, the Eagles turned the tables as they came out focused and determined. The Pippa Passes posse promptly used six Nelson points to spark a rally.

Later, when sophomore guard Koji Anderson nailed a nice jumper in the paint at 12:35, it capped off a 18-5 blitz. Suddenly, the Kentucky boys led 41-38.

The Eagles would lead by as many as four points, only to see the Red Storm claw there way back. Eventually, with just 3:06 remaining, a Hundley trifecta put Rio in command at 57-51. The game appeared over.

However, the Eagles responded once more. First, Napier would drain a huge bomb at 2:21 to make the score 57-54. Then, at 1:57, senior guard Jared Strickland would get a steal and draw the foul. He would sink one of his tosses (57-55).

ALC would get a stop on defense and get the ball back, but miss a trifecta. Thankfully, they would play good defense once more and force a miss by RGU. Unfortunately, the Ohio club would snag the board at :13. The crowd groaned in disappointment.

Now, needing a quick foul to stop the clock, the Eagles struck gold. On the Rio possession, Caney Creek freshman forward Jackson Tackett deflected the pass, dove on the ball and called timeout. Suddenly, the Eagles had the ball with :10 ticks left and another opportunity to tie.

With the crowd on its feet, the ball went to Nelson. The guard calmly stepped back behind the three-point line and swished a contested triple. The crowd went berserk as the home-town crew now led 58-55. Just :08 seconds remained.

Incredibly, on the inbounds play, ALC was whistled for a technical foul for six men being on the court. A single free throw attempt from Red Storm guard Trey Robinson sent the contest into OT, tied at 58.

In overtime, a Tackett post move gave the Eagles a lead (60-58) only to see Rio's Robinson nail a big three to put the Red Storm ahead 61-60 with 2:17 left.

Then, Nelson proceeded to make the home fans delirious once more as he sank a jumper, followed by an old-fashioned three-point-play, to place the hosts back on top, 65-61.

After Rio answered with a bomb of their own (65-64), Nelson delivered in the clutch again with a nifty bucket in the paint (67-64). He was fouled on the make, and stuck the charity toss to place his crew ahead 68-64 with just :40 showing.

The Buckeye boys refused to quit as they would sink a shot in the paint on their next possession (68-66). Then, after ALC's Anderson stuck 1-2 foul shots with :24 on the scoreboard, Hundley quieted the crowd with a straight-away three pointer that banked in. Now with just :07 remaining, the score was knotted yet again at 69-69. A second overtime loomed ahead.

Stunningly, the blue and white refused to panic. Out of timeouts, the inbounds-pass was thrown quickly in to Nelson who raced up the sideline. Suddenly, the crowd saw Napier streaking like a jet down court on the left side. Nelson led him with a beautiful pass just beyond the fingertips of the defender, and the freshman laid in the go-ahead hoop in stride with 4.8 remaining. The crowd went absolutely ballistic.

With time still left for Rio to get a shot, Alice Lloyd swarmed Robinson on the inbounds pass and forced him to pivot directions. This cost his club valuable time, and kept him from getting a shot off as time expired. The home fans roared in approval as the matchup came to a fitting end.

For Alice Lloyd (12-13, 4-11 RSC), they were led on the night by Nelson, who pumped in a career high 22 points. He sank 8-12 field goals, 3-5 trifectas, and 3-4 free throws for his total. 8 of his points came in the overtime session.

He was followed by Napier with 13 points on 5-9 shooting, including his game-winner. He also nabbed 6 boards. Tackett was a perfect 5-5 from the floor to finish with 12 points. He also snared 6 rebounds and provided 3 big steals. Senior forward Ben Soumahoro produced 11 points (4-5 FG), grabbed 6 caroms and had 3 steals.

In addition, Strickland produced 8 points, but covered the stat sheet by grabbing 6 rebounds, and gaining 4 steals, 5 assists and 3 blocks. Anderson came up big by leading the squad with 8 rebounds. 

On the day, the Caney Creek crew shot 45.6% (26-57) from the field, but sank 56.6% in the second half and overtime. Additionally, they were 28.6% (6-21) from long range and 54.2% (13-24) from the charity stripe. They corralled 40 rebounds, handed off 11 assists, stole 11 balls and blocked 5 shots.

RGU (10-15; 5-10 RSC) was led by Hundley with 20 points. His squad shot 40.3% (27-67) from the field, 29.4% (10-34) from beyond the arc and 50% (5-10) from the charity stripe. They added 39 rebounds, and handed out 16 assists and stole 9 balls.

The Eagles are back in action on Saturday, February 17th when they return home to face the powerful Point Park Pioneers, ranked #13 in the NAIA, with a 22-2 record. This will be the final home game of the season. Tipoff is set for 3:00 pm.