Jackson, Mississippi - A back and forth contest finishes with the Blazers beating the Lobos on a late corner 3 Thursday night.
The Lobos come up short after a strong first half. This was a very tight and dramatic affair from start to finish. The first half was in Sully's favor as their play in the open court allowed them in effect to open up the game with a good lead.
Julian Paredes ended the 1st half on a torrid pace from the three point line. His play was crucial to putting the Lobos up by 10 at the half including two three pointers from the corner to close out the quarter. He was aided by
Tristen Licon's crafty play that allowed the Lobos went into the locker room feeling good about their offensive production.
Belhaven would not go away though. The Lobos came out in the 2nd half with immediate foul trouble that allowed the Blazers to get back into the game. Following the foul troubles, they tied it up early and at 11:46 it was locked at 53-53.
A controversial offensive foul call on
Tristen Licon put him on the line and Sully up one after the referee claimed that the whistle popped out of his mouth before the whistle was heard. Following that the zone defense of the Blazers would continue to give the Lobos problems on the offensive end. But Licon made a heads up play on the defensive end, raced as fast as he could to chased down a loose ball down the court, and made an absurd scoop shot to help try to gain the momentum back.
It was still an uphill battle with the Blazers already in the bonus with 9:46 to go in the 2nd half and their zone defense continuing to stifle the Lobos. The Blazers were very strong on the boards in critical situations which limited the second chance points for Sully. It suddenly became a back and forth slug fest with neither squad able to substantially pull away.
Jezreel Griffin was invaluable on both ends of the court with his rebounding, passing, and defensive presence.
Tristen Licon found himself on the wrong end of a contested offensive foul with 1:11 left that was reviewed but upheld that gave the Blazers the ball and with them able to in bonud and put it in one of their best free throw shooters. But Sully responded.
Julian Paredes rolled in a beautiful left handed lay-up off the dribble to put the Lobos up 1. With 10 seconds left Belhaven managed to find themselves with the ball and an opportunity to steal the win. In dramatic fashion, Matthew McMillan drilled a corner 3 to put the Blazers up by 2 with 5 seconds to go. On the resulting possession for the Lobos, a long pass was clipped off by the low roof that resulted in a change of possession and robbing the Lobos of a final attempt of tying or winning the game. Certainly a frustrating end to what had been a productive and competitive night.
The Lobos finished with two player in the 20s. No surprise that it was Paredes and Licon with 26 and 20 respectively. Paredes finished 6-8 from beyond the arc and hauled in 8 rebounds. Luke Coach from the Blazers led all scorers with 29. At the end of the night, the foul trouble that the Lobos got into facilitated the deciding factor in this game. 21 points were surrendered at the free throw line compared to 10 for Sully. Coupled in with 33 attempts to 18 respectively.
This brings their record to 3-4. The men's team will head down to Pineville, LA to face Louisiana College on Saturday at 3:00 PM CST.
