Greyhounds Win on Last-Second Shot

The Greyhounds needed a stop and a rebound to force overtime, but instead got that and a layup with 1.1 seconds left to take an 89-87 victory over the North Arkansas College Pioneers Saturday at The Dog House.

ASU Mid-South held a 6-point lead, 87-81, with 2:21 remaining, only to see the Pioneers go on a 6-0 run to tie the game with a free throw at the 45.2 second mark.

With the game tied 87-87, North Arkansas had the ball and called timeout with 18.2 seconds left in the game. The Pioneers then got the ball inside to Trent Lippoldt who kicked it out to Elliott Brooks in the left corner, but Brooks missed a three-pointer with 7.1 seconds on the clock.

J.T. Smith grabbed the rebound and raced toward the Greyhounds' basket, finding O.J. Marrs streaking down the court with him, and Marrs hit a contested double-clutch layup with 1.1 seconds left. The Pioneers then got the ball again to Brooks whose 60-foot heave bounced off the right side of the rim just after the buzzer sounded.

The Pioneers shot the ball slightly better than the Greyhounds from the field and three-point line, but ASU Mid-South held the edge on the boards thanks to 21 offensive rebounds. 

Sam Smith led all scorers with a career-high 31 points and pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season which ties the number of double-doubles he registered last year and is one short of the record of nine, set by Zach Byrd in 2019-20.

Tim Johnson scored 19 points, Jailen Anderson finished with 9 points, and T.J. Stewart scored 8 points. J.T. Smith led the team with 5 assists to go with 5 rebounds and 6 points.

The Greyhounds (8-8, 4-1) have now finished the first round of region games and travel to Williams Baptist University Monday before beginning the second round of region play Saturday as they host SAU Tech at 4:00pm.

Standings current as of 1/29/2022