By: FVSU Office of Sports Information
After an emotional win over the Panthers of Claflin University on Monday night, the 4-6 Wildcats of Fort Valley State University (FVSU) were looking for back-to-back conference wins in their match-up tonight (Thursday, Jn. 12th) against the Lions of Paine College. A win would be the first time this season that the Wildcats to win consecutive conference games.
In the first half, the momentum from their last win appeared to follow FVSU to Augusta. After yielding the game's first basket to the Lions, the Wildcats led for the remainder of the half. Good field shooting and solid defense propelled the Wildcats to a 35-18 lead with 2:15 left before halftime. While the Lions were able to narrow the deficit, FVSU took a 35-24 lead into the locker room for the intermission.
The Wildcats made 14 of 26 shots in the first half. The 53.8% shooting effort was the highest for FVSU in any half so far this season. Defensively, the Wildcats forced 17 turnovers by the Lions in the first 20 minutes of play.
The second half came with a reversal of fortune for the Lions. A 15-6 scoring run was more than enough to put them right back into the game. With 12:38 remaining, the Wildcat lead had been cut to two points, 41-39. A few seconds later, the game was tied on a transition layup by the Lions. The layup was accompanied by a foul call against FVSU. After sinking the free throw, Paine had its first lead since the opening minutes of the game, 44-43.
With 10:15 left, the Wildcats reclaimed the lead after a steal by
Rashad Thomas led to a layup by
Julian McDonald. That was followed by another steal and a three point basket by Britain Kelly. The Wildcat lead was 53-46. After a time out at the 7:32 mark, things were tight once again, 53-51. With 6:05 left, the Lions were back on top, 54-53.
After two solid defensive stands and consecutive layups by Thomas, FVSU climbed back into the lead, 57-54 with 4:40 left. With 3:50 left, Kelly hit a three point shot to push the Wildcat lead to 60-56. With 2:00 left, it was a 61-60 FVSU lead.
Desmond Lofland made it 63-60 after being fouled and converting both free throws. The Lions countered with a layup with :36 left to make it 63-62. After a FVSU turnover, the Lions took possession but could not convert.
On the other end of the floor,
Brandon Davey was fouled but missed the front end of the one-and-one. With :13 left, Paine's Marshall McFadden drew a foul and made one of two free throws to tie the game at 63. On the final play of regulation, Lofland penetrated but missed on the layup and the game was sent to overtime.
The five minute period started with a layup by McDonald. After a Paine turnover,
Cecil Bent connected on a soft hook shot to extend the Wildcat lead to 67-63. With three minutes left in overtime, the Wildcats led 70-67. At the two minute mark, Bent converted a layup was fouled and then hit the free throw to take the Wildcat lead to 74-69.
Trailing 75-69, the Lions got a three point bucket with 48 seconds left to close the gap to 75-72. After a time out, Davey was fouled and made one of two free throws. Now trailing 76-72, the Lions hit another three point shot to narrow the margin to one point, 76-75 with 22 seconds left. On the ensuing inbounds play, the Wildcats turned the ball over and the Lions had a chance for the win with 14 seconds left. They missed the layup.
Aaron Bing got the rebound and was fouled. He went to the free throw line; hit both free throws and the Wildcats walked away with 78-75 win.
Bent was the game's leading scorer with 19 points. Lofland added 15 and Kelly finished with 11 points.
The win takes the Wildcats record to 5-6 overall. In conference play, the Wildcats improve to 5-4. FVSU is back in action on Saturday at 3 p.m. in another conference match up. They will meet the Tigers of Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina.
-Wildcats Athletics-
