Flyers Fall to Gators in Region 10 Opener
Leading by a point at halftime, the Sandhills Community College basketball team fell behind by as many as a dozen points after the intermission on the way to a 102-96 loss to Virginia Peninsula CC on Monday afternoon at The Hangar.
Coach Mike Apple's squad, now 12-5 overall, closed the deficit to three points in the final minute of the game, but couldn't get the defensive stops it needed in its Region 10 opener. The Gators, from Hampton, VA improved to 3-0 in the conference and 10-4 overall.
Ranked No. 3 in Monday's NJCAA DIII poll, the Flyers host a Patrick and Henry squad that is 2-0 in Region 10 and 8-5 overall at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.
The Flyers took a 47-46 lead into the locker room in a first half that saw the lead change 12 times. Ahead 49-46 on a drive for two by Mike Fee after the intermission, the Gators' Keshaun Johnson then worked his way in the paint for 16 points over a span of 10 minutes, helping his team build an 82-72 advantage with just over five minutes remaining in the game.
With the clock winding down, Antoine Piper and Isaiah Upchurch sparked a Flyers' rally that made it 97-94 with 20 seconds remaining. The visitors canned five free throws in six attempts from there to wrap it up.
Afterward Flyers' Coach Mike Apple talked about the need for his team to play defense for the full 40 minutes.
"The first five minutes of the second half told the tale," he said. "We can't take breaks. We got behind because we didn't come out ready to play. Our rebounding was great in the first half, but it was not great in the second half. Our guards quit crashing the boards and they (Gators) got a lot of second and third shot opportunities that hurt us as well.
"We didn't give up and in the last five minutes, we tried to make a game of it. They did what they needed to do, hitting timely shots and just enough free throws in that last half to stay ahead of us."
In a competitive conference, defending the home court is critical.
"We need to beat Patrick Henry here at our place on Wednesday," the coach said.
Upchurch, a freshmen, was 8-for-14 from the field and finished with a team high 23 points. Sophomore Damien Robinson scored 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for his 12th double-double of the season. Other double-figures scorers for the Flyers were Kevin Gentry with 16 points and Piper with 15. Sincere Moore led the Gators with 25 points.
C. Bergmann
