Alice Lloyd Eagles late rally comes up short, suffer tough loss to Shawnee State University on Senior Day

Pippa Passes, KY: On Saturday, February 22nd, the Alice Lloyd College Eagles returned to the Perry Center to face the athletic Shawnee State University Bears in a huge River States Conference regular season game that would determine the divisional winner.  The hosts, who trailed by 16 late in the second half, made a galiant effort to come back, before succuming, 79-70.

Before the matchup, the program recognized an outstanding group of Eagle seniors who were making their final regular season apperance on "Coach J Court". Players Ben Soumahoro, Jared Stickland, Brady Nelson, and Devaunte Robinson  were all honored for their outstanding careers, along with three-year student-announcer Joseph Ashcraft . Once the contest began, Shawnee looked to spoil the festivities.

In the opening eight minutes, six different Eagles connected from the floor, capped off by a pair of consecutive trifectas from junior guard Koji Anderson. His second bomb put the Pippa Passes posse ahead 16-12 at 11:42. Unfortunately, the momentum was getting ready to change.

Over the next three minutes, ALC went cold and SSU ran off a quick 11-0 run to vault ahead, 23-16 with 8:19 on the clock. From there, the Bear backcourt of leading scorer Trey Beard and Cory Gardner helped their crew maintain their advantage., and they would enter the lockeroom at intermission holding a solid 37-26 lead.

In the second half, the Kentucky boys tuned to senior forward Soumahoro and sophomore forward Jackson Tackett to slice a 42-29 disadvantage to just five (48-43), following an old-fashioned three point play, courtesy of sophomore forward Landon Napier. Frustratingly, Shawnee would answer.

Beard would give his team a boost with his shooting, and a dunk at 5:07 would give the Buckeye club their largest lead of the day, 69-53. Happily, the hosts refused to roll over.

From there, Soumahoro and Tackett would combine to score 12 important points during a 15-4 blitz. Suddenly at 1:31, the lead was reduced to just five, 73-68, and a massive comeback seemed possible.

Alas, it was not to be. On the ensuing possession, SSU's Beard would drain a big charity toss, His club would then close the game by making 6 more crucial free throws to keep the gutsy Eagles at bay.

For Alice Lloyd (19-8; 10-6 RSC), Soumahoro was virtually unstoppable, draining 10-17 field goals and 8-10 free throws for a game-high 28 points. He added 6 boards. Tackett sank 6-13 attempts and finished with 16 points. His game-high 10 rebounds gave haim a nice double-double. Uncharacteristically, these would be the only Caney Creek members to achieve double figures.

Anderson did sink a trio of trifectas to chip in with 9 points, and led the team with 3 assists and 1 block. Additionally, sophomore guard Desmier Hatchett nabbed 2 steals

For the event, the Caney Creek crew finished at 44.1% (26-59) from the field, including just 31.3% (5-16) from beyond the arc. They also hit 81.3% (13-16) from the charity stripe, grabbed 36 rebounds, handed out 10 assists, and nabbed 4 steals. 

Shawnee (16-12; 11-5 RSC) was led by Beard and Gardner, both with 18 points. Their squad connected on a solid 56.9% (33-58) from the field, 50% (5-10) from long range and 57.1% (8-14) from the free throw line. Additionally, they nabbed 28 rebounds, handed off 13 assists, and stole 9 balls. 

With the win, Shawnee has earned the top seed in the Eastern division of the conference heading into next weeks conference tournament. With the loss, the hard-luck Eagles drop into a three-way-tie for second as they join Rio Grande University and Indiana University East with identical 10-6 records. Unfortunately, head-to-head play knocks the Eagles down to fourth place. in the final standings

Alice Lloyd will now return to the hardwood on Wednesday, February 26th when they travel to Saint Mary of the Woods to face the leagues overall top seed in quarter-final play. Game time is set for 6:00pm.