Pippa Passes, KY: The Alice Lloyd College Eagles battled the Oakland City, Indiana, Mighty Oaks to the wire before falling in the final seconds, 90-87. The River States Conference contest was held on Saturday, January 16th.
ALC raced out to a quick 14-5 lead in the opening half, only to watch OCU settle down and work their way back into contention. Unfortunately, the hosts would go cold over the final five minutes. This helped the Mighty Oakes close on a 15-4 run and pull ahead at intermission, 40-36.
In the second half, the Eagles would fight back from an eight-point deficit as the squads battled to the end. Junior guard Bryce Slone drained two big bombs, while senior guard Noah Young scored on several mid-range jumpers to keep the Pippa Passes club in contention. Late in the game, junior center Colyn Sturgill swished 4 consecutive free-throws.
However, Oakland City big man Nathaniel Schmittler refused to be denied inside as he sank several key shots of his own to help his squad cling to their advantage.
Trailing by three, Young drained two big free throws with only .05 remaining to reduce the Eagles deficit to just one (88-87). His squad then had no choice but to foul the Indiana club.
Unfortunately, Schmittler was the man of the hour as the center would sink two big tosses of his own to give his team a 90-87 lead. Alice Lloyd would get a desperation three-point attempt off at the buzzer, but the shot bounced off the rim as time expired.
For the unfortunate Eagles, four players reached double figures. Young led on the night with 25 points on 9-16 field goals and 5-5 free throws. He added 5 assists. Slone followed him with 12 points. Sophomore forward Noah Caudill and sophomore guard Jared Strickland chipped in with 11 points apiece.
Sophomore forward Damon Tobler added 8 points and 11 rebounds while Sturgill snagged 10 rebounds and contributed 8 points and 4 blocks of his own. 6 players each had 1 steal.
ALC shot 50% (34-68) from the field and 30.4 (7-23) from long range. They sank 92.3% from the foul line but only had 13 attempts, sinking 12. They added 39 rebounds, 18 assists, and 6 steals.
For OCU (4-9), Schmitter pumped 25 points on 10-11 field goals. His club finished shooting 50.8% (32-63) from the floor and 23.1% (3-13) from behind the arc. They won the game by sinking 23-30 from the foul line (76.7%). They also added 27 rebounds, 10 assists, and 9 steals.
ALC returns to action this week for three big matchups. On Tuesday the 19th, they host Midway University in a doubleheader with the Lady Eagles at 7:30. Thursday the 21st, they host Ohio Christian University at 7 pm. They close out the week on Saturday the 23rd when they play at Oakland City University.
