ALC Eagles drop close decision in South Carolina

Sumpter, SC: On Valentine's Day, the Alice Lloyd Eagles returned to the Palmetto State, to face an athletic Morris University Hornets club for the second time in less than twenty-four hours. The game was close throughout, but on this occasion, the hosts made free throws late, turning the tables from the previous day, and pulled out a 86-80 victory.

In the opening stanza, the two clubs traded buckets for the first seven minutes. However, tied at 13-13, ALC would go on a 15-6 run to lead 28-19 with 6:21 remaining.

Unfortunately, unlike yesterday's matchup where the Kentucky crew blew the game open after grabbing a lead, today was different. This time, the host club tightened up on the defensive end and promptly closed out a the half with a 22-11 run. This would give Morris a 41-39 lead at intermission.

In the second half, the lead changed hands constantly over the first ten minutes, and as the clock went below the mid-point, the contest was knotted up at 59-59. Down the stretch, the South Carolina squad was clinging to a 71-69 lead with 4:26 remaining in the contest. At this juncture, MU got a pair of critical defensive stops and capitalized to go up by six, 75-69. They would then sink five late charity tosses to keep the Caney Creek crew at bay.

For Alice Lloyd (11-15), four players reached double figures. Junior forward Naz Welch led all players with 17 points, shooting 6-9 from the field and 5-6 free throws. He was followed by junior guard Desmier Hatchett with 12 points.

In addition, freshman forward Evin Eversole contributed 11 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 steals while junior guard Landon Napier chipped in with 10 points and 7 rebounds. Eversole, Hatchett, and senior guard Koji Anderson all recorded 2 assists.

On the day, ALC shot a solid 54.7 (29-53) from the floor, 40.9% (9-22) from deep, but only 59.1% (13-22) from the foul line. They added 27 rebounds, 11 assists, and 9 steals.

Morris (11-11), which also placed four players in double digits, was led by Khalil Baker with 13 points. His club shot 51.8% (29-56) from the field, 52.9% (9-17) from long range, and 65.5 (19-29) from the foul line. They added 28 boards, 17 assists, and 6 steals.