Alice Lloyd Eagles drop road decision to Shawnee State University

Portsmouth, Ohio: On January 14th, the Alice Lloyd Eagles basketball squad journeyed to Buckeye country to battle the Shawnee State University Bears. The hosts used torrid shooting in the second half to break away for the 86-67 victory.

In the first half, ALC used the overall play of senior forward Ben Soumahoro to take a 14-10 lead at 13:10. The Bears then went on a 14-2 burst to pull out to a 24-16 advantage.

Fortunately, behind 15 first-half points from Soumahoro, who took over the game, the Kentucky club came back to only trail 34-32 at intermission.

In the second half, the Eagles would creep back and use a pair of senior guard Jared Strickland charity tosses to inch ahead 39-38 with 17:43 showing on the scoreboard. Unfortunately, from that point, things turned sour for the visitors.

SSU would roll out a 17-4 burst over the next five minutes to pull out to a twelve-point lead (55-43). From there, the host squad would manage to preserve its advantage as it never allowed the Eagles to get within single digits the rest of the way.

For Alice Lloyd (11-5; 2-3 RSC), Soumahoro scored 17 points on 8-9 accuracy. He also led the club with 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals. Strickland was the only other player to reach double digits, scoring 12 points.

On the day, the Caney Creek crew finished at 40.9% (27-66) from the field, including just 19.2% (5-26) from beyond the arc. They also hit 61.5% (8-13) from the charity stripe, grabbed 29 rebounds, handed out 9 assists, and nabbed 4 steals. 

Shawnee (7-10; 2-3 RSC) was led by Lovelace with 22 points. His squad connected on a solid 56.4% (31-55) from the field, including 18-28 in the second half. They also sank 42.1% (8-19) from long range and 76.2% (16-21) from the free throw line. Additionally, they nabbed 36 rebounds, handed off 13 assists, and stole 6 balls. 

The Eagles return to the hardwood on Saturday, January 18th. On that date, they will travel to Columbus, Indiana, for their first-ever meeting with the Indiana University-Columbus Crimson Pride in RSC action. Tipoff is set for 1:00 p.m.