Alice Lloyd Eagles battle to wire before falling to NAIA #17 Point Park University, 82-74

Pippa Passes, KY:  The Alice Lloyd College Eagles had the difficult challenge of hosting the NAIA #17 Point Park University Pioneers in the final home regular season contest of 2024. ALC put up a tremendous battle before falling late, 82-74. The contest took place on Saturday, February 17^th.

This game celebrated Senior Day for the hosts and graduating forward Blaine Keathley was honored before the contest began.

In the opening stanza, the Pennsylvania squad got off to a good start. Sparked by a trio of long bombs from guard Jalen Stamps, they sprinted out to a 23-11 advantage with 12:08 showing. After calling a timeout to regroup, the Kentucky boys responded.

Over the next seven minutes, the Caney Creek crew rolled off a 18-9 run. When freshman center Micah Wills sank a midrange jumper at the 5:41 mark his squad only trailed 32-29.

PPU turned to leading scorer Jo Valrie, and the reigning RSC Player of the Year fueled a quick 7-0 burst to extend his teams advantage back to double digits (39-29) with just 4:15 remaining in the half. To their credit, the Pippa Passes boys dug in once more and promptly clawed their way back into contention.

 Sparked by senior forward Ben Soumahoro and senior guard Brady Nelson, the home fans watched their team promptly unleash a 13-1 blitz to move ahead. A tip-in by PPU's Jordan Stowe just before the buzzer knotted up the contest at 42-42 heading into intermission.

In the second half, the Eagles continued their impressive play. Led by senior guard Jared Strickland and Keathley, Alice Lloyd raced to a 64-53 lead, following a beautiful tip-dunk from Keathley. The two veterans combined for fourteen of their clubs twenty-two points during the big run forcing a timeout from the Pioneers at 13:33. Unfortunately, PPU rallied

Over the next four minutes, the visitors had five different players score as they reeled off a critical 15-0 blitzkrieg. When the dust finally settled at 8:34 mark, the Pittsburg squad now led 68-64.

Over the remainder of the game the Pippa Passes posse refused to go away and battled furiously. Unfortunately for the hometown fans, the big city boys sank their free-throws down the stretch to seal the deal and avoid the upset.

For Alice Lloyd (12-14; 4-11 RSC), they were led on the night by Strickland, who stuffed the stat sheet. He scored a game-high 21 points, completed a double-double with 12 rebounds, and led the way with 5 assists 3 blocks and 4 steals.

Soumahoro was close behind with 17 points and 2 steals, while Keathley chipped in with 12 points and 7 rebounds. In addition, Nelson contributed 8 points and 3 assists.

On the day, the Caney Creek crew shot 40% (30-75) from the field, but just 17.4 % (4-23) from long range. They also shot 76.9% (10-13) from the charity stripe. They grabbed 39 rebounds, handed off 12 assists, stole 10 balls and blocked 5 shots.

PPU (24-2; 13-2 RSC) was led by Valrie and Stamps, each with 17 points. Their squad shot 40.3% (31-77) from the field, 29.6% (8-27) from beyond the arc and 63.2% (12-19) from the charity stripe. They won by snaring 56 rebounds, and handed out 14 assists and stole 4 balls.

The Eagles are back in action on Tuesday, February 20th when they travel to Winston Salem to face Carolina University at 6:00 pm. They conclude the regular season on Saturday February 24^th at Ohio Christian University. Tipoff is set for 3:00 pm.