Piper Helps Fuel Second half Rally in Flyers Road Win Over Bulldogs

Trailing by 18 points early in the second half, the Sandhills Community College basketball team mounted a furious rally and went on to defeat Pitt Community College 88-79 in Greenville on Wednesday evening. 

Antoine Piper led the Flyers with 21 points followed by Damien Robinson with 20. Other double-figures scorers for Coach Mike Apple's squad included Mylon Campbell with 17 and Isaiah Upchurch and Mike Fee with 11 apiece.

Ranked No. 3 in this week's NJCAA Division III poll, the Flyers, now 10-2 on the season, return to action on Friday when they entertain a 7-4 Catawba Valley CC squad in a game scheduled to tip-off at 6 p.m.

Tied at 8-8 in the early going, the Bulldogs took advantage of cold shooting and turnovers by the Flyers to break away on the way to a 49-34 halftime lead. Campbell, a product of Seventy-First High School, helped fuel a Flyers rally with a steal and seven quick points that cut the margin to 10 at 62-52 at the 11 minute mark.

The deficit was still double-digits at 72-59 when Piper, a transfer from Cape Fear CC got rolling with a three point play inside followed by a pair of free throws off a drive to the basket, capping an 11-0 run that made it 72-70. He drove again for two moments later tying the game for the first time since the early minutes of the game at 74-74 with 3:35 remaining.

A steal for two by Piper, followed by a steal and dunk by Robisnon put the Flyers in front 80-76 as they went on to outscore the home team 18 to five in the last four minutes of the game. The Bulldogs dropped to 6-4 on the season with the loss.

"It's hard to believe how badly we played in the first half," Apple said afterward. "Pitt played just about as badly in the second half. It was a tale of two halves. It is very impressive how hard Antoine Piper plays."

Robinson grabbed a team-high 13 rebounds, recording his ninth double-double of the season.

Riverland CC (MN) and Mohawk Valley CC (NY) occupy the No. 1 and No. 2 spots ahead of the Flyers in this week's DIII rankings. Following last week's loss to the Flyers, Davidson-Davie dropped from No. 1 to No. 3 in the DII rankings.

C. Bergmann