Huge Second Half Run Propels Flyers by the Eagles to 11th Win in a Row

The Sandhills Community College basketball team responded to an eight-point second half deficit by scoring 20 points in a row and went on to defeat Oxford Emory 87-82 on Saturday afternoon at The Hangar.

Trailing 59-51 with 13 minutes remaining in the game, the rally began with a basket by Zac Sledge. Bryan Quiller and Joey McMullin each drained a three and contributed five points to the burst that ended on a basket by Darryl McCaster. That gave the Flyers a 71-59 lead with six minutes remaining in the game.

Quiller, with 20 points and 10 rebounds, and McCaster with 12 and 10, each posted a double-double.  McCaster was also credited with five steals.

Point guard Chris Hunter scored 11 points and handed out eight assists without committing a turnover for a Flyer squad that came into the game with three additions to its injury list.

The Flyers improved to 7-0 in Region 10 and 21-6 overall with their 11th win in a row. They also clinched the conference regular season title and home court advantage for the conference tournament that begins on February 17.

Coach Mike Apple's squad has home conference games remaining against Central Carolina CC on Wednesday at 7 p.m. and Dabney S. Lancaster CC at 1 p.m. next Saturday.

Oxford Emory, 10-11 overall, lost to the Flyers for the third time, completing their conference schedule with a record of 3-6.

With freshmen Sam Stoltz (broken left hand) and LeNijel Robinson (sore wrist), and sophomore Camron Zachary (ankle sprain), the latest additions to the injury list, the Flyers came into the game with only 10 of the 15 players they began the season with available.

On the positive side, sophomore guard Jordan Coleman returned from an arm injury, following a five-game absence.

"I wouldn't say it was a struggle for us to play with 10 guys, but we knew what we had to do today," said McCaster, the only Flyer on the court at the opening tip-off who started the majority of games this season.

"Since it was the third time playing this team, we know each other and just had to come out here and play with intensity, energy and effort."

The Flyers fell behind 15-6 while seeking cohesiveness with their amended starting lineup. They drew even at 19-19 on a basket by Quiller and took their first lead at 30-28 on a three by K.J. Perry.

Later, Hunter split a pair of free throws to send the teams to their locker rooms tied at 42-42.

Out-rebounded in a game for only the third time this season, the Flyers continued giving up second-chance points early in the second half as the Eagles rebuilt their lead to 59-51.

Following the 20-0 run, there were still some anxious moments when the visitors closed the gap to 71-69 with a 10-0 run of their own.

Quiller and McCaster then combined to score eight points as the Flyers moved comfortably ahead 83-73 with 1:40 remaining in the game.

"Nobody plays harder and Darryl was instrumental in this win today," Apple said. "Our rebounding is usually good, but today we were not a good rebounding team. That's something we're going to spend time on in practice next week."

Sledge, Perry and Kendall Wooldridge each contributed 10 points each. Sean Osei of the Eagles scored a game-high 25 points.

"I'm really proud of K.J. and the job he did filling in at the wing position," the coach said. "I was glad to get Jordan back on the floor and hopefully he'll get healthy and contribute for us."

Apple expects a Central Carolina team the Flyers narrowly defeated 80-79 in Sanford 10 days ago to present another tough challenge on Wednesday.

"They will be just like this team (Oxford Emory)," he said. "They know how we play and they will be a handful."

Oxford Emory – Osei 8 5-5 25, Laws 0 0-0 0, Conley-Leonardi 5 2-7 12, Bergin 3 3-3 9, Nist 5 4-4 14, Hardin 5 0-0 13, Walker 1 2-3 5, Ko 0 0-0 0, Snyder 2 0-0 4 Totals 29 16-22 82. Sandhills – Wooldridge 4 1-1 10, Hunter 4 3-5 11, McCaster 4 4-8 12, McMullin 2 4-6 9, Nelson 0 0-0 0, Perry 4 0-0 10, Hanani 1 0-0 3, Coleman 1 0-0 2, Sledge 4 2-3 10, Quiller 8 3-4 20 Totals 32 17-27 87. Three-point goals: OxEm 8 (Osei 4, Hardin 3, Walker); SCC 6 (Perry 2, Wooldridge, McMullin, Hanani, Quiller).  

C. Bergmann