Flyers Ride Big Second Half to Season-opening win over the Lancers

Trailing by three points with 5:30 remaining in the game, the Sandhills Community College basketball team out-scored Lenoir CC 22-8 the rest of the way to grab a season-opening 95-84 victory in Kinston.

Nasir Johnson led the Flyers with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Fellow-sophomore guard Darryl McCaster scored 16 of his 21 points in the second half. Another sophomore, Tyler Hammond, scored a game-high 26 points for the Division II Lancers.

The home schedule for Coach Mike Apple's squad begins with a pair of doubleheaders at The Hangar in the Chatlee Classic on Friday and Saturday.

Central Carolina CC meets Shooting for Greatness Academy at 5 p.m. on Friday followed by the Flyers and Anne Arundel of Arnold, MD at 7 p.m.

On Saturday, Anne Arundel and Central Carolina play at 1 p.m. before the Flyers take on Shooting for Greatness at 3 p.m.

The No. 1 in NJCAA Division III ranked Flyers trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half and went into the intermission behind 49-39. They caught up and took their first lead of the second half at at 58-56 when Johnson assisted on a basket in transition by McCaster with 15:30 remaining in the game.

Later, trailing 76-73 at the 5:30 mark, the decisive rally began with a pair of free throws by Johnson. After Jordan Coleman forced a Lancer turnover, McCaster scored on a drive to give the Flyers a 77-76 lead.

Moments later, a three by Coleman, and a free throw by Keegan Brayboy, completed a 10-0 run that put the Flyers ahead 83-76 with 3:47 remaining.

Brayboy, Chris Hunter and Sam Stoltz each converted a pair of free throws down the stretch as the Flyers accounted for eight of their final 12 points from the charity stripe.

"It was a tale of two halves," Apple said afterward. "It's hard to figure how we can be outscored by 10 points in the first half and outscore them by 21 in the second. We're a very young team with a lot of guys playing their first college game.

"I thought our defense was much better in the second half and I was pleased with our rebounding in both halves."

Camron Zachary and Joey McMullin were other double-figure scorers for the Flyers with 10 points each. Brayboy and Zac Sledge were each credited with three assists to lead the team in that department.

Sandhills – Brayboy 2 3-4 7, Coleman 3 1-1 9, McCaster 7 7-10 21, McMullin 5 0-0 10, Zachary 3 3-4 10, Wooldridge 0 0-0 0, Johnson 7 8-11 22, Perry 0 0-0 0, Hunter 0 6-10 6, Hanani 0 0-0 0, Stoltz 0 2-2 2, Sledge 1 0-0 2, Nelson 3 0-0 6 Totals 31 30-42 95. Lenoir – Hammond 9 4-7 26, Walters 2 5-7 9, Hines 2 4-5 9, McKinney 5 1-2 12, Lovette 2 3-3 7, Lipscomb 2 0-0 4, Dixon 1 1-2 3, Chapman 1 0-1 3, Smith 0 2-2 2, Moore 3 0-0 7, Sings 0 2-3 2 Totals 27 22-32 84. Three-point goals: SCC 3 (Coleman 2, Zachary); LCC 7 (Hammond 4, McKinney, Chapman, Moore).

C. Bergmann