Lions Overcome Four Point Deficit With 17.2 Seconds Left To Win In Wild Finish
BRANCHBURG, NJ–After watching the scrimmage between Edison and Union Catholic, GMC Hoops traveled over to Route 22 West, and Raritan Valley Community College to see the Lions in action against Lackawanna Junior College out of Northeast Pennsylvania. Both of these teams are from Region XIX. RVCC is a Division II school according to the NJCAA. The Lions have several local players on their team including former Piscataway standout, Antoine Beverly, Plainfield hoops standouts, Anthony Baskerville and Nathan Grant-DeWitt, and Immaculata standout Emmitt Hightower.
Coming into the game, Raritan Valley Community College had compiled a record of 5-6 on the season while Lackawanna entered the game at 6-3. The Falcons had won five of their last six games while the Lions have been up and down with two straight losses following a three game winning streak. Both of these schools are Region XIX Division II JUCOs, and Lackawanna was 2-1 in league standings coming in while RVCC was 1-1. Baskerville leads Raritan Valley with an 18.4 points per game average while Hightower is third with a 9.0 points per game average, and Beverly is fourth averaging 8.2 points per contest. This game was a wild contest that went down to the wire in overtime before a winner was decided.
Neither team scored for the first 1:51 before a timeout at the 18:09 mark. Following the stoppage, Raritan Valley jumped out to a 6-2 lead as Baskerville scored a bucket. Lackawanna with only eight players on its roster fell behind a bit further as RVCC scored 10 of the next 17 ways for a 16-9 lead at the 11:00 mark. Over the following minute, the Pennsylvania JUCO scored the next four points including a one handed slam to close the gap to 16-13. Lackawanna, one of the top JUCO programs in the country all year round, then scored the next four points for a 19-16 lead with under eight minutes to go in the half.
Beverly began to make his presence felt in the game when he scored on a put back at the 7:30 mark for a 19-18 Lackawanna lead, and then swiped a steal that led to another RVCC score for a 20-19 lead with under seven minutes to play in the half as the Falcons called for time. It would be the first of several lead changes before Lackawanna took control of the matchup for a bit with a 5-0 run for a 28-22 lead. The Lions fought their way back with a 7-3 run that included scores from Beverly and Baskerville to make the score, 31-29 with about five minutes to play. However, they were unable to get any closer as Lackawanna outscored RVCC 4-2 the rest of the way for a 35-31 halftime lead. The Falcons outscored the Lions by a margin of 26-15 over the final 11 minutes of the half.
The second half started with both teams exchanging scores before Raritan Valley got a three point play by Hightower for a 37-36 Lackawanna lead. The Falcons had a chance to go up even further, but missed two foul shots at the 18:06 mark. Moments later a couple Lackawanna players were ejected from the game, and the visitors were down to only six players. Nevertheless, the team still managed to hang on to a tenuous 41-40 lead with 16:50 to go in the contest. Baskerville then gave the Lions the lead with a strong baseline drive for a tough layup, and a 42-41 score at the 15:35 mark. Baskerville then added to the lead with two free throws at the 15:20 mark for a 44-41 edge. Lackawanna got a put back by Jason Pierce to pull within one at the 14:54 mark, but Raritan Valley scored the next seven points including a two free throws by Hightower and a three pointer by Baskerville for a 51-43 lead.
Lackawanna then got three points to close within five before RVCC got a score, and the Lions could have went up nine, but Hightower missed two foul shots at the 10:06 mark. The Pennsylvania JUCO then scored seven of the next eight points including a three pointer from the left corner, and a shot from the left side over the outstretched hand of Beverly for a 54-53 Lion lead with 6:45 to play. Raritan Valley regained command though with five of the next seven points including a three pointer from the left side at the 4:55 mark for a 59-55 lead. Lackawanna then got a score from Pierce on a short shot in the paint at the 4:15 mark for a 59-57 score as it called for time. Following the timeout, the Lions got the ball to Hightower in the left low block, and he drew another foul, but again came up empty at the charity stripe with exactly four minutes to go.
On its next possession, Lackawanna made one of two from the foul line to close the gap to one at 59-58 with 3:31 to play. RVCC had a chance to get some breathing room, but Hightower misfired on both attempts from the line again with 2:43 to go, and Lackawanna came down the floor, and connected on a three pointer from the left wing at the 2:31 mark for a 61-59 lead. The Lions then turned the ball over before calling timeout with a little over two minutes to go. The Pennsylvania JUCO then got one of two from the line by Pierce with 1:14 to go for a 62-59 lead, but Raritan Valley tied the game up at 62-62 on its next possession with a three pointer from deep on the left wing with exactly a minute to go. Anthony Baskerville then drew a foul and made one of two from the line with 15.6 seconds left in regulation, but Lackawanna drew a foul on a follow attempt with 2.8 seconds remaining.
Following a Raritan Valley timeout, DeAndre Albritton made the first free throw, but missed the second after another RVCC timeout. The visitors were able to get possession of the ball with 1.9 seconds left, but after a third Lions timeout, Beverly came up with a huge block on the inbounds play at the 0.8 second mark. Lackawanna then threw the ball away off another inbounds as time expired with the score tied at 63-63. The Lions got the first points of the extra session for a 65-63 lead, but the Falcons responded with six straight points including a drive for a layup by Albritton with 2:03 remaining for a 69-65 lead. Baskerville then connected on a three from the left side to close the gap to 69-68 with 1:42 to play. Lackawanna would score the next 1:25 including one of two from the line with 17.2 seconds left for a 72-68 lead, but Baskerville drew a foul on a three point attempt, and sank all three free throws for a 72-71 Falcon lead with 9.4 seconds to go.
However, the Pennsylvania JUCO couldn’t hold on to the lead. With 2.0 seconds left on the clock, Albritton missed both foul shots, and fouled Jamal LaDuna with 1.2 seconds to go. Albritton fouled out of the game on the play while LaDuna made both free throws for a 73-72 lead. The Lions were able to steal the inbounds pass after a Lackawanna timeout, and pulled out the hard fought one point victory. With the victory, RVCC improves to 6-6 on the season while Lackawanna drops to 6-4.