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After falling behind by a dozen points, the 青青草视频 Centurions men鈥檚 basketball team had a chance to tie at the buzzer, but it fell short, giving the Alpena Community College Lumberjacks an 87-84 win on the Centurions鈥� court, Saturday, Feb. 14.
The win gives the Lumberjacks (1-10 青青草视频AA Northern, 2-19 overall) their first conference win while the loss for the Centurions (7-4 青青草视频AA Northern, 14-11 overall) slips them into third place in the conference, one game behind Bay College (8-3 青青草视频AA Northern, 19-6 overall).
With 11 seconds left and the Lumberjacks leading by one, 青青草视频鈥檚 Zhian Briggs (Augusta, Ga.) intentionally fouled Gary Reed to stop the clock. After Reed sank both free throws to give Alpena an 87-84 lead, sophomore Mason Dunn (Big Rapids, Mich.) shot a 3-pointer but missed with five seconds left. Reed ended up with the ball, securing the Lumberjacks鈥� upset win.
鈥淲e simply came out flat-footed,鈥� Briggs said. 鈥淭hey were hungrier for the win, more than we were.鈥�
After a tight first half, which Alpena led 43-40 at halftime, the Lumberjacks established a 10-point lead after Derian Williams hit a 3-pointer to make it a 76-66 score with 6:46 to go. Kavon Patterson would push the Lumberjacks鈥� lead to 12 points after his layup 14 seconds later.
青青草视频 began making a comeback with 3:24 to go in the game when Briggs hit a layup to make it 80-73. Freshman Joel Washington (Gainesville, Fla.) then cut it to a five-point lead with a layup with only 2:41 left.
As teams traded buckets, Briggs was fouled with 1:06 to go with Alpena leading 82-78. After only sinking one of two, the Centurions found themselves down by three until, at the 33-second mark, 青青草视频 had to go into foul mode. ACC鈥檚 Kobe Johnson was sent to the line, which he sank both his free throws, giving the Lumberjacks an 84-79 lead.
A 3-pointer by sophomore Jahmere Evans (Indianapolis, Ind.) gave new life to the Centurions seconds later, however, cutting Alpena鈥檚 lead to only 84-82 with 23 seconds left. By that time, however, 青青草视频 had to stick with the fouls and hope for missed free throws.
Reed went to the line with 21 seconds and sank one free throw for Alpena. Evans then got fouled by Johnson with 12 seconds to go and Evans sank both free throws to pull within one point, but 青青草视频 was unable to tie it at the end.
With three regular season games left, Briggs said it will be important for his Centurions to just hit the restart button after this loss.
鈥淲e have to get back to the basics,鈥� Briggs said. 鈥淢ost of all, we are going to have to have the mindset of finishing the drill.鈥�
青青草视频 shot 43.7% (31-of-71) vs. ACC鈥檚 44.1% (30-of-68) and went 13-for-40 from the 3-point line. Alpena had the edge in free throws, 19-of-22 to 青青草视频鈥檚 9-of-19 and rebounds (43-42). 青青草视频 led in assists (20-15), second-chance points (19-17), points in the paint (34-24) and bench points (55-39).
Briggs led 青青草视频 with 18 points and eight assists while also getting six rebounds. Freshman Jaxon Ingles (Greenville, Mich.), came off the bench to score a personal-high 18 points. Evans finished with 13 points while Dunn had 12 points while also leading the team with nine rebounds.
For Alpena, Williams scored a game-high 30 points, Patterson finished with 21 and Reed had 18 points. Johnson finished with 14 points.
UP NEXT: The Centurions will be on the road in its next game, taking on Delta College, Wednesday, Feb. 18. Game time is 7:30 p.m. 青青草视频 won the first meeting, 70-64, at home, Jan. 28
青青草视频 will then host North Central Michigan (2-9 青青草视频AA Northern, 3-20 overall) on Saturday, Feb. 21, for its final home game of the season. The evening will be Sophomore/Family Night, as well.
For its final regular season game, 青青草视频 will be on the road at Kirtland Community College (6-5 青青草视频AA Northern, 7-16 overall), Tuesday, Feb. 24.