March 1, 2007

Box Score

The second match-up that took place Thursday afternoon inside the Charlotte Bobcats Arena was between the Broncos of Fayetteville State University and the Falcons of St. Augustine's College. The Broncos put forth a hard fought effort, but could not pull out the victory, as they fell to the Falcons, 61-60.

In the first half, St. Augustine's got into a quick rhythm and continued to score in spurts. Claude Neeley lead the way for the Falcons early as an inside presence. Neeley topped all scorers at halftime with 10 points, while managing to also grab five rebounds. Fayetteville State was outscored inside the paint 22-8 in the first half. St. Augustine was up on the Broncos 14-8 with 11:52 remaining, right before going on an 8-2 run to stretch their lead even further. By the 3:59 mark, the Falcons had earned a 33-16 advantage over FSU. As the half drew to a close, the Broncos snapped out of their scoring drought. Phillippe Harris nailed a three pointer that sparked a 7-0 run for FSU, sending the team into halftime down 35-23.

The momentum at the end of the first half carried over for the Broncos, as they started the second half on a 7-2 run to cut the Falcons' lead to seven. At the 8:05 mark, SAC led 48-41 before the Broncos' Jesse Fells drove inside for a lay-up while being fouled in the process, and sent to the free throw line for the continuous.

Fells would convert the three point play; teammate Andy Gebru would steal the inbound, dish to Fells who scored on another lay-up. On the next FSU possession, Gebru would be fouled in the process of scoring a lay-up and complete the three point play at the line. With 2:42 left in the game, Gebru would sink a three-pointer to bring the Broncos within three (55-52), resulting in a St. Augustine's timeout.

Following the timeout, Harris stole the inbound pass, dish to Gebru who missed a lay-up, but Harris would follow with the put back, giving FSU their first lead, 56-55. The Falcons had recaptured the lead (57-56) with two made free throws and on the next SAC possession, Jeff Sullivan was fouled and sent to the charity stripe to extend their advantage. Sullivan would miss both free throws, and Gebru would give the Broncos' a 58-57 lead after making two free throws of his own. With 29.3 seconds remaining, Fayetteville State called their last timeout after Antonio Fitzgerald put St. Augustine's back in front 59-58. Gebru would hit a 15 foot jumper from the left wing to put the Broncos up 60-59 with 15 seconds remaining.

The Falcons chose not to use their last timeout; instead Fitzgerald drove the ball up court and straight to the rim, where he would miss the go ahead lay-up. However, Sullivan would redeem himself of the two earlier missed free throws with the put back tip-in. Fells would be called for an offensive foul on Fayetteville State's last possession, thus concluding the game.