Posted: Jan 25, 2025
Alice Lloyd Eagles fall at the wire to conference leader Saint Mary-of-the Woods, 84-80
St. Mary-Woods
(17-3, 7-1)
84
Alice Lloyd (KY)
(13-6, 4-4)
80
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
St. Mary-Woods (17-3, 7-1) | 41 | 43 | 84 |
|
Alice Lloyd (KY) (13-6, 4-4) | 38 | 42 | 80 |
Pippa Passes, KY: The Alice Lloyd College Eagles returned to the Perry Center and "Coach J" Court on January 25th to face the formidable, and conferences top-rated Saint Mary-of-the-Woods Pomeroys in River States Conference action. The hosts, playing without injured second-leading scorer Jared Strickland, left everything on the court before falling at the end, 84-80.
In the first half, the squads traded hoops as the two combatants played evenly. Later, sparked by their athletic guard Greg Jenkins, SMW pulled out to a 28-21 advatage at 6:11.In need of a spark, ALC turned to senior forward Ben Soumahoro, who led a resurgance. When junior guard Koji Anderson swished a bomb at 3:57, it capped off a 11-2 burst and lifted the hosts to a 32-30 lead.
Unfortunately, Pomeroy guard Taray Howell helped Saint Mary close on a 11-6 run to pull ahead 41-38. At intermission. Soumahoro and Jenkins would lead their respective clubs with 13 and 12 points respectively.
In the second half, the momentum quickly changed. Led by 7 quick points courtesy of sophomore guard Landon Napier, ALC spurted out of the locker room on a 11-3 blitz of their own, and raced ahead 49-44 at 14:51.
The fans roared with approval as they saw their club was here to battle the ultra-athletic Hoosier club.
Saint Mary scored a quick six to only trail by one (49-48), only to see the Caney Creek crew respond with back-to-back trifectas from Napier and sophomore forward Jackson Tackett. The Eagles now had their largest lead of the night (55-48) with 12:53 remaining.
Over the next four minutes, SMW continued to fight as they crept within a single point at 8:51 (61-60). Happily, once again, the Pippa Passes posses found an answer as they dug deep. In a two minute spurt, Soumahoro traded buckets with the Pomeroys as he scored 7 consecutive points on a trio of beautiful moves. Later, when junior guard Jacob Curry swished a 30 foot bomb at 6:11, the gritty hosts led once more by seven, 71-64.
To their credit, the Indiana squad showed why they are the leagues top team as they battled back once more to only trail by one, 75-74, as the clock ticked below three minutes.
The next Eagle possession would be controversial. Alice Lloyd came down looking for a good shot and naturally called Soumahoro's number. The forward made a beautiful move, attacked the rim, and soared for a monster dunk. There appeared to be contact on the play, but the fans were stunned that no foul was called. Saint Mary then grabbed the loose ball, raced down the floor, and found Dameriz Merriweather, who drained a huge trifecta to put his team ahead, 77-75, at 2:39.
Dejected but not defeated, ALC answered. On the very next play, they found Tackett who made an acrabatic power move to knot the game once again, at 77-77. Alice Lloyd would not go down easy.
Howell would score on a drive for SMW to put them back in front on their next trip (79-77) with 1:53 remaining. Then, Soumahoro drew a foul and split a pair of charity tosses at 1:30 to pull his mates within one (79-78).
Unfortunately, Jenkins would sink a huge jumper for the Indiana team at 1:21 (81-78), then see Caleb Iheukwu get a steal and sink both free throws to make the advantage five (83-78) with 0.57 left to play. One more free throw soon after made the advantage six, 84-78.
The hosts refused to fold as Curry later stuck a mid-range jumper (84-80) at 0:38, then saw the sharpshooter get a look at a triple to cut the deficit to just a point. Dissapointingly, Curry's attempt bounced off and the guests made the four-point lead stand up until the final buzzer.
For the gutsy Eagles (13-6; 4-4 RSC), three players reached double figures. Soumahoro performed brilliantly as he drained 11-18 field goals and 7-9 charity tosses for a game-high 29 points. He also grabbed 7 rebounds, handed off 4 assists, and nabbed a pair of steals. He was followed by Tackett, who battled hard all night, drilling 8-12 attempts for 19 points. Napier came through with 11 more on 60% accuracy.
In addition, senior forward Devaunte Robinson added 8 points while Curry chipped in with 7. Senior guard Brady Nelson and Anderson both added 2 steals.
The offensive stats show just how evenly matched the squads were. The hosts shot 50% (30-60) from the field, an uncharacteristically low 29.4%% (5-17) from beyond the arc, and 78.9% (15-19) from the free-throw line. They also added 26 rebounds, 13 assists, 2 blocks, and 8 steals.
SMWC (17-3; 7-1 RSC), was led on the day by Jenkins and Howell, with 24 and 21 points respectively. Their club shot 50.8% (31-61) from the field, 38.9% (7-18) from deep, and 65.2% (15-23) from the foul line. They added 38 rebounds, 15 assists, 5 blocks, and 7 steals.
The Eagles return to the hardwood on Thursday, January 30th when they travel to Oakland City (IN) to battle the Mighty Oaks in a big RSC matchup.Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m, EST.