Eagles Edge Greyhounds at End

The Greyhounds lost a 13-point second-half lead only to battle back to lead with just under 3:00 to go before eventually falling 85-76 to the visiting Dyersburg State Community College Eagles Saturday in The Dog House.

In the first half, the Greyhounds were clicking on all cylenders, shooting an outstanding 19-of-30 (63.3%) from the field including 6-of-8 from the three-point line to take a 48-36 lead at the half.

Then in the second half, ASU Mid-South had stretched the lead to 15 points, 64-49 at the 12:54 mark. But the Eagles put together a 17-2 run to tie the game at 66-66 with 6:06 remaining, and the two teams then traded baskets for the next couple of minutes until a J.T. Smith layup gave the Greyhounds a 72-71 lead with 3:54 to go in the game. But Dyersburg State would answer with three-pointer at the 2:55 mark to lead 74-72.

The teams traded fouls with ASU Mid-South going 1-of-2 and the Eagles hitting 2-of-2 for a 76-73 lead with 1:38 left to play. Then J.T. Smith found Tim Johnson cutting to the basket for a dunk to cut the lead to 76-75 with 1:28 left, but the Greyhounds saw a corner three-pointer hit the rim and bounce straight up before rolling around the rim and falling in to give Dyersburg State a 79-75 lead with 1:08 remaining in the game. The Greyhounds managed 1-of-2 free throws to cut the lead to three points, then fouled and got the Eagles to miss the front end of a 1-and-1. But Dyersburg rebounded the miss and the Greyhounds were forced to foul again which resulted in two more free throws for an 81-76 lead with 39.9 seconds left and then forced a quick turnover which they converted into an uncontested layup. The Greyhounds then had three three-point attempts not connect on the ensuing possession, and the Eagles hit an uncontested layup at the buzzer for the final count.

Braxtyn McCuien led the Greyhounds with 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field and 5-of7 shooting from the arc to with 9 rebounds in only his second game and first start for the Greyhounds. Jeremiah Jones hit for 21 points while J.T. Smith recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds to go with team-highs of 5 assists and 2 steals. Dyersburg State (11-1) was led once again by Jordan "Turbo" Smith who scored 32 points with 13 assists and Greg Gordon who scored 18 points and pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds.

The Greyhounds (4-6) travel to Southwest Tennessee Community College in Memphis Tuesday for a 7:00pm tip-off.