Flyers Prevail in a Sophomore Day Classic
Heading into the final 80 seconds of Saturday's Sophomore Day game at The Hangar, the Sandhills Community College basketball team trailed upset-minded Blue Lights College 99-89.
"We never doubted ourselves," freshman Jamori McDougald said afterward. "Every practice we try to put ourselves in situations where we're facing a whole bunch of adversity. It was just another day for us, another game. We played with heart in that last minute."
With time running out in one of the wildest games in the eight-year history of The Hangar, sophomore Jaquan Thurman muscled a teammate's miss into the basket, completing a game-ending 11-0 run that gave the Flyers a 100-99 victory.
Coach Mike Apple's No. 1 ranked in NJCAA Division III squad improved to 24-3 with its 12th win in a row. The team from Apex, that is a member of the New South Athletic Conference, dropped to 8-6.
Sophomore Bryan Quiller led the winners with 19 points. Thurman scored 14 points to go with a game-high 15 rebounds. McDougald and Joey McMullin also added 14 points each. Wol Yak led the visitors with 31 points and 12 boards.
The Region 10 leading Flyers (4-0) return to the business of conference basketball when they travel to Sanford to face Central Carolina CC (2-2, 7-17 overall) on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
After the 10 Flyers sophomores were introduced before the game, accompanied by family members and friends, the roller coaster ride began before one of the largest crowds of the season.
The Flyers trailed 20-13 early before sophomore Chris Hunter led a late first half rally with his playing-making, and a three-point play and a three, that added up to a 49-44 cushion for his team at the intermission.
Four minutes into the second half, a basket in transition by sophomore Kendall Wooldridge extended the Flyers' lead to an apparently comfortable 62-45.
"I do think we were a little overconfident," McDougald said. "We thought we had them, but they stayed in the game and came back."
Over the next six minutes, Yak made three of his team's five treys as the Thoroughbreds outscored the Flyers 27 to 10 to draw even at 72-72. They maintained the upper hand and led 95-84 at the three-minute mark before a three by McDougald and a basket inside by Quiller helped turn the tide going into the final minute of the game.
Trailing 99-89, Thurman, who uncharacteristically missed five of his previous seven free throws, drained a pair. A moment later, Quiller drove for two and then turned his steal into a three from the corner by McDougald, making it 99-96 with 34 seconds remaining.
Following a Flyers' timeout, a steal by McDougald led to a layup by Thurman, making it 99-98 at the 25-second mark. A quick foul, and a miss of the first free throw of a one and one at the other end, led to the game-deciding putback by Thurman.
The visitors inbounded the ball with three seconds remaining, leading to a final shot that missed the mark.
"Being a part of this one was pretty great," Thurman said afterward. "Coach Apple always talks about execution, execution. We got steals, we moved the ball. We all made the right plays, played hard defensively and got the win.
"To do this on Sophomore Day around a bunch of sophomores, it was amazing how we came together. This is a great group we have."
Apple wasn't expecting to see his team surrender a 17-point lead.
"It was a hard fought game," he said. "The first thing I want to do is say, 'hats off to Blue Lights College'. I watched them on film and tried my best to communicate to our guys that they were a pretty good team. I guess I didn't do a very good job of that. They showed us for the entire game how good they were."
"I hope it's a wake up call for what we're trying to do right now. A lot of our guys for whatever reason aren't as focused as we need to be. We were just fortunate to win the ball game."
As for Thurman's contributions in the amazing final minute, the Flyers' coach had this to say: "That's legendary stuff right there, Jaquan making that basket. Someday, he's going to tell his grand kids what happened there. It's going to be a great story and I appreciate that I was around to watch him do that."
In addition to Wooldridge, Hunter, Thurman, Quiller and McMullin, the other sophomores honored were LeNijel Robinson, Alon Hanani, Jordan Coleman, Sam Stoltz and Zac Sledge. The non-starters for the Flyers scored a total of 67 points. In addition to the support provided by the student group that came together in January, the McDeed's Creek Elementary School Cheerleading team was on hand in full force again to support the Flyers.
C. Bergmann
