Greyhounds Fall to Hot Archers

Time ran out on the Greyhounds rally in the final minute as they fell 74-72 at St. Louis Community College Tuesday night to drop to 5-2 on the season.

The Archers (3-1) came out firing on all cylinders to take a 32-26 halftime lead as the Greyhounds struggled to find the net and further hurt themselves with 14 first-half turnovers. No Greyhound scored more than 5 points in the first frame, and the team shot a paltry 33.3% from the field going into halftime.

But the Greyhounds finally found their shooting touch in the second half as Ike Moore and Jalen Lynn scored a combined 39 points. St. Louis, however, continued to scorch the nets from the three-point line to lead 66-56 with under six minutes left, but Moore hit a three-pointer on the next possession to start the comeback, and Lynn's three-pointer pulled the Greyhounds within a single point with 15.2 seconds remaining. The Archers then beat the Greyhound press for a quick basket to make it 72-69, and Ike Moore was called for a foul blocking out for the rebound that was ruled after the basket. The Archers took advantage of the situation to add two more free throws with 13.3 seconds left to complete the rare four-point play, and Lynn hit a deep three-pointer at the buzzer to set the final score.

The Greyhounds ended up shooting 43.4% from the field and 41.7% from the three-point line, but it was no match for St. Louis' scorching 56.3% from the arc. Both teams committed 22 turnovers, and the Greyhounds held a 37-33 rebounding advantage, but hitting only 64.0% of their free throws also hurt in a losing cause.

Moore led all scorers with 26 points to go with a game-high 4 assists, and Lynn poured in 19, 16 coming in the second half. No other Greyhound scored more than Garret Finley's 7 points, and Zach Byrd led all rebounders with 8 boards while J.T. Smith collected a school-record tying 6 steals to go with 7 rebounds.

Next up is a Thursday matchup with Itawamba Community College from Fulton, Mississippi, a team that swept the Greyhounds last season. The women tipoff the action at 5:30pm followed by the men at 7:30pm. The games will be streamed at NJCAATV.com with the Voice of the Greyhounds, Mark McClellan, beginning approximately 5 minutes prior to each tipoff.