Greyhounds Fall in District Championship

After leading by six points at the half, the Greyhounds couldn't overcome a second-half cold spell that resulted in a 19-0 run for St. Louis Community College as the Archers took an 86-69 victory Saturday at The Dog House for the NJCAA District XIII Championship.

After a St. Louis personal foul and then technical foul with 17:40 to go in the second half, Terrandus Smith and Trevor Banks hit three of four free throws to put ASU Mid-South up by nine points. St. Louis then hit a three-pointer their next possession, and after trading a few possessions, Trevor Banks threw down a rebound dunk off a Greyhound missed layup to push the lead back to eight points with 15:45 left in the game, forcing the Archers to take a timeout.

And then the game turned on a dime, and the Greyhounds were not prepared for the swerve.

St. Louis would hit five baskets in their next seven possessions to take a two-point lead before putting the game out of reach by hitting three-pointers on their next three consecutive possessions, including one that banked in off the backboard, giving the Archers an 11-point lead with just under 10 minutes to go.

During that span, the Greyhounds went scoreless by missing five shots, committing three turnovers and being called for three offensive fouls. Further hurting the cause was Greyhound freshman Dee Montgomery, coming off a 37-point performance in the Region 2 Championship, not being able to finish the game due to severe muscle cramps.

Trevor Banks' two free throws finally broke the drought, but the Greyhounds could not get closer than six points as St. Louis hit 18-of-24 free throws the rest of the way.

Terrandus Smith and Jerrick Cole finished with 17 points each, and Dee Montgomery finished with nine points before leaving the game with an injury. Trevor Banks came away with a game-high nine rebounds and K.J. Patrick pulled down eight caroms.

ASU Mid-South won the battle of the boards 34-32, forced 20 turnovers while committing only 15, and finished with more steals and blocks than the visitors, but the Greyhounds shot just 33.9% from the field and 23.1% from the three-point line while St. Louis converted 47.2% of their shots including 38.5% from the three-point line and went 31-for-41 (75.6%) from the free throw line.

The Greyhounds finish the season with a 20-10 overall record and an NJCAA Region 2 Championship, capping the only 20-win campaign and best season in school history.