Jan. 8, 2011
Final Stats
MUFREESBORO, NC - Andre Best walked the ball up the floor, the shot clock off, and the game tied at 84.
A year ago, perhaps the Fayetteville State Broncos would have panicked on the road in this situation. They had led by 14 points at the half, but had lost the lead, and then let a late four-point edge disappear with under a minute to go.
But Best calmly dribbled up the floor, angling to the left. The seconds ticked away, and once he saw the clock go under 10 seconds, he made his move. Best dribbled to the right, knifing through the lane. As the defense converged around him, he slipped a nifty pass to a charging John Herrington, who took the dish and laid the ball in softly off the glass with 3.4 seconds left, giving the Broncos their precious lead back.
A timeout, a Chowan turnover and two Tim Plummer foul shots later, the Broncos escaped Chowan with their first victory at the Jesse Helms Center, downing the Hawks 88-84 on Saturday.
Herrington (Jr., Jacksonville, NC), who led the Broncos (5-5, 1-1) with a double-double two days ago in a loss to Bowie State, led Fayetteville State with career-highs of 17 points and 15 rebounds while Tyrell Tate (Jr., Durham, NC) added his own career-high of 17 points before fouling out with 2:26 to go in the game. Plummer (Jr., Apex, NC), who made 8 of 9 foul shots, finished with 12 points as Jarmel Baxter (Jr., Davidson, NC) chipped in 10. Best (So., Raleigh, NC) had just two points, but he led all players with five assists - none bigger than his last.
Quinton McDuffie led Chowan (1-10, 0-2) with 25 points while Charles Rhodes added 15. DeAndre Tyree had a double-double with 10 points and 15 rebounds and Travis Williams had 13 points for the Hawks.
Chowan led the game early, but Fayetteville State got rolling in the last six minutes of the first half, using a closing 16-6 run to take what seemed like a comfortable 54-40 lead into the half. The Broncos, the CIAA's highest-scoring team at 84 points per game, shot over 55 percent from the field in the first half after struggling mightily with their shot in Thursday night's loss to Bowie State, a game in which Fayetteville State shot a season-low 27 percent from the floor.
The Broncos cooled off in the second half, though, shooting just 35 percent. Chowan took advantage, chipping away at the lead until McDuffie's scoop shot off the glass handed the Hawks their first lead since the first half at 72-71, with 6:02 remaining. The score capped a 13-4 Chowan run.
But the Broncos responded, with Tate hitting two foul shots before Herrington's tip-in gave Fayetteville State a 75-72 lead with 4:27 left. Tate later made a runner, and FSU looked liked it was back in control with a 77-72 edge with just over 3 minutes to go.
Chowan didn't back down, however, Williams buried a 3-pointer with 2:53 remaining to bring the Hawks within one. FSU's Sidney Evans (Jr., Durham, NC), who scored all seven of his points in the second half, put the Broncos back in front by four, 82-78, with a three-point play with just under 2 minutes to go.
Chowan kept coming, though. Best got the Broncos another four-point edge when he found a streaking Baxter for a layup and an 84-80 advantage with a minute remaining - a play strikingly similar to the game-winner he would run with Herrington some 57 seconds later.
But Williams made two foul shots with 53 seconds to, and after getting a stop, Chowan's Jerry Fairley hit a leaner to tie the game at 84 with 32 seconds left, setting up the last-second heroics by Fayetteville State.
The victory is Fayetteville State's third on the road this season. The Broncos won just one game away from Felton J. Capel Arena all of last season in head coach Alphonza Kee's first year. Fayetteville State, which finished 8-19 last season, travels again for its next game when it heads to Elizabeth City State for a 7:30 p.m. tip on Monday.
The Broncos return home on Thursday, Jan. 13, to face Lincoln (PA) at 7:30 p.m.
