The beginning of both halves against Lorain Community College was Dickens-esque for the Golden Eagles, while the end of both halves was almost nightmarish.
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times".
The worst of it was a 76-74 KSU Tusc loss on the road during the commission of 30 turnovers. And that, however, speaks volumes about the Eagles intestinal fortitude to still be in a position to win.
The first seven minutes of the game was the age of wisdom with the Eagles taking care of the basketball and controlling the game for a 20-9 lead, but it was the age of foolishness with the basketball through the final 12:58.
That's when the Eagles suffered a drought that lasted 4:20 managing just a single basket in the lane by James Roundtree at the 9:58 mark. And, uncharacteristically, they squandered away their chances to put away the Commodores making 11 turnovers in the last 11 minutes, missing four charity tosses as part of two 2-shot opportunities, all while managing an 11-point, 33-22, lead thanks to Kameron Shockley's 15 first half points.
The Eagles finished the opening 20 minutes committing five straight turnovers and six miscues in their last seven possessions. During that hard-to-stomach stretch, LCCC outscored KSU Tusc 9-1 over the last 3:56 to chop the Eagles lead to 34-31 at the half.
In the second half, the Kameron Shockley Show continued with a dunk, a pair of free throws and a 15-foot jumper from the right wing helping the Eagles to a 42-35 advantage before retiring to the bench with 14:22 left after drawing his fourth foul.
His absence resulted in three-straight Eagles turnovers while they searched for an offensive engine. They seemed to be stuck in neutral, struggling to just four three throws over a five minute span, as the Commodores maneuvered themselves into their first lead of the game (51-50) with 12:52 to play. With 10:50 left, they navigated to a 55-50 advantage.
With Kameron Shockley still riding the pine, Kyle Shockley rainbowed home a triple, was fouled on the play and tied the game with a free throw (57-57) at 9:04. He followed that with an emphatic dunk driving down the middle of the lane and then stole the ball on the Commodores throw in. Shockley shoveled the ball to DeJuan Lawrence for lay up and London Cobbs drove to the hoop from the right wing to create a six-point (68-62) Eagles lead.
The last nine minutes of the game saw five ties and nine lead changes as the final outcome hung in the balance.
Kameron Shockley reentered the game with 4:34 left after nearly 10 minutes on ice. As the Eagles struggled to put LCCC away, they tried to throw the game away committing turnovers on three consecutive possessions. The Commodores did their part to aid in the effort by making just one of six free throw attempts, leaving the door open for the Golden Eagles.
Trailing 69-68, the Eagles got a backside tip in by Kameron Shockley who was fouled. He converted a free throw for a three-point play that gave the Navy and Gold a 71-69 lead with 1:19 left.
LCCC tied the game at 71-71 after securing three offensive misses and scoring a hoop in the lane. The Commodores defense waited for the Eagles at half court, but the Eagles never covered the required 47 feet and were whistled for a 10-second violation. They walked the ball upcourt listening to instructions from the bench which also slowed their advance. After the call the officials got together to discuss the play because the shot clock still showed :22 seconds---meaning that only eight seconds had expired---however the official's manual count takes presedence in this case.
The winners wasted no time in bombing home a three to take a 74-71 lead, but Cobbs rained home a triple of his own with :25.9 left to pull the Eagles back into a tie at 74-74.
With :03.5 seconds left, the Commodores scored on a driving lay up for a two-point, 76-74 margin. After an Eagles timeout, Cobbs took the throw in and drove the ball to the right wing in front of the Eagles bench. He launched a 28-foot shot that banked off the glass and rattled in and out of the basket as the buzzer sounded and spelled the fifth defeat on the season for the Eagles.
Kameron Shockley led all scorers with 28 points and completed a huge double-double with 18 rebounds. He made 8/13 field goal attempts and 11/12 free throws and had two blocks. Cobbs found the mark eight times in 14 field goal attempts as he scored 20 points, while Lawrence added 10 points to go with eight rebounds and three blocks.
The Eagles shot 43% from the floor for the game, made 21/33 free throws for 64% and gathered in 43 rebounds.
On Wednesday, February 2nd the Eagles (12-5) travel to Buffalo to take on Villa Maria College at 5:00 p.m.
JaJuantae Young's path is blocked by two Commodores. (Photo by Patty Tolotti - Solid Rock Photos)