JOURNAL SPORTS
The LSUS and Bossier Parish men’s basketball teams used second-half comebacks Tuesday to force overtime and get wins to stay alive in tournament play while the LSUS women bowed out with a loss.
Playing in the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round in Alexandria, the fifth-seeded Pilots defeated 12 seed Thomas University (Georgia) 107-104 after overcoming a 10-point (49-39) halftime deficit.
Five Tyler Washington free throws, the last coming with eight seconds left in overtime, gave the Pilots a nine-point lead, 105-96. The Night Hawks didn’t lay down and got a layup and 3-pointer to pull within 105-101 with four seconds. Another pair of free throws by Washington iced it for LSUS.
The Pilots used a 24-4 run to start the second half to erase the mid-point deficit and take a 63-53 lead only to see the Night Hawks come back and tie the game at 70-70.
It was tight the rest of the way. LSUS took a 87-84 lead on two Damon Davis free throws with six seconds left. Thomas was able to tie the game on a Toriano Lewis 3-point basket with two seconds left, forcing overtime.
Davis led all scorers for LSUS with 37 points followed by Washington’s 25. Both were 12-of-14 from the line as the Pilots made 38-of-54 free shots. Calvin Carpenter chipped in 18 points and Jalen Brooks 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Jordan Booker led Thomas with 27 points and 10 rebounds. The Night Hawks made 22-of-24 free throws and were 14-of-40 from 3-point range.
LSUS will play No. 13 seed Pikeville (Kentucky), who defeated No. 4 seed Huntington (Indiana) 71-66, today at 3 p.m.
Bossier Parish 62, Angelina 55, OT: In the Region XIV Tournament at Tyler, Texas, the Cavaliers rallied from 11 down in the second half to force an extra period and leading scorer Kendrick Delahoussaye (18 points) hit six free throws to spark the overtime advantage. Christian Caldwell had 12 points and nine rebounds and D’Marcus Hall 11 points for BPCC (15-15). The Cavs hit on 21-of-33 free throws and held the Road Runners to 32.4 percent from the field.
The 10th-seeded Cavs now play No. 2 Panola Thursday at 6 p.m.
Keddrick Mays II led all scorers with 19 and Kanaan Holder had 11 rebounds for No. 7 seed Angelina.
WOMEN
Vanguard 71, LSUS 60: At Alexandria, the Lady Pilots stayed even for a half (33-33) but the Lions from Costa Mesa, Cal., outscored them 19-9 in the third quarter and went on to get the win. Destanee Roblow was the only LSUS player in double figures with 11 points. Alona Washington and Taty Barnes both had eight points for LSUS, which finished 24-8.
