Greyhound Comeback Falls Short in Overtime

The Greyhounds battled back from a 10-point halftime deficit to send the game into overtime, but just couldn't finish the job as they dropped a fierce battle with the Jones College Bobcats, 74-71, Tuesday at The Dog House in West Memphis.

Jones took an early lead with the Greyhounds sluggish in the early going and built a 41-31 lead at the break. But in the second half, the Greyhounds found their defense as they held the Bobcats to just 23 points to give themselves a chance in the final minutes. Trailing 60-50, ASU Mid-South put together a 14-4 run in the final 6:30 of regulation to force the extra period. During the run, all five Greyhounds on the floor scored highlighted by Braxtyn McCuien's three-pointer with 1:23 left in regulation and Jailen Anderson's layup that was goaltended with 35.6 seconds left. ASU Mid-South then got a stop to force overtime as Anderson came down with the rebound.

In overtime, the Greyhounds took a 66-65 lead on a Je'marion Westbrook layup at the 4:11 mark to give them their first lead of the game. But the Bobcats came back with two free throws and a three-pointer to take a 70-66 lead with 2:39 left. Braxtyn McCuien came back with another clutch three-pointer at the 2:21 mark, but Jones got two stops and then hit a 5-foot jumper to lead 72-69 with 1:00 to play. Je'marion Westbrook then hit a layup and was fouled with 41.7 left on the clock, but his free throw to tie was off, and the Greyhounds fouled with 8 seconds left on the shot clock as the Bobcats knocked in both free throws. ASU Mid-South took a timeout to set up a final play, but Jesse Washington's three-pointer went in-and-out, and the Greyhounds couldn't get another three-pointer off before the buzzer sounded.

The Greyhounds shot 44.4% from the field and 31.8% from the arc but committed 17 turnovers as Jones capitalized with 18 points off turnovers and a 13-6 advantage on second-chance points thanks to 13 offensive rebounds to the Greyhounds 10. Jailen Anderson led ASU Mid-South with 15 points, 4 assists and 4 steals, and Christian Thompson finished with 12 points and 2 blocked shots. Braxtyn McCuien, Jesse Washington and Je'marion Westbrook scored 11 points each with McCuien also pulling down 9 rebounds and dishing out 4 assists.

The Greyhounds drop to 9-4 on the season with all four losses coming to NJCAA Division I teams -- two to Jones College, one to Mineral Area College (MO), and one to Three Rivers College (MO). However, they have also beaten Division I schools Dyersburg State Community College (twice), Northwest Mississippi Community College (twice), and Southwest Tennessee Community College. Next up for the Greyhounds is St. Louis Community College on Wednesday, January 4, at 7:30pm following the women's game at 5:30pm.