Eutectics falter late as Pioneers squeak out win in St. Louis

(Photo courtesy of Makenzie Ness)

ST. LOUIS, MO – The Crowley's Ridge Pioneers earned a sweep of the AMC season series over the Eutectics with a come-from-behind 80-76 on Thursday night. The loss spoils a 20-point performance from UHSP's Dwight Newsome who drilled a triple with 1:58 left to give the home club a 71-68 advantage. But late turnovers, empty possessions and a key technical foul in the final seconds proved disastrous for the Purple and Gold.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

• It is the second time this season that Newsome has been the Eutectics' leading scorer. Both those games for him have come in the last three games.
• Crowley's Ridge had four players in double digits led by Braxton Cousins with 15p on 5-of-7 shooting. He added six rebounds.
• Landon Engelage and Sean Paradise Jr. each scored 16 points for UHSP. They combined to go 10-for-18 from the floor.
• Zak Brown had 14 points along with four boards and four assists.
• Brock Davis had seven points and seven rebounds. But it was after his final defensive rebound with :17 seconds left that he fell to the ground, lost the ball and Lamont Jackson laid it in to put the Pioneers up 76-72. As the Eutectics headed to the bench for a timeout, Davis was given a technical foul and Zak Brown made both free throws to widen the Pioneer lead to 78-72. That was CRC's largest lead of the game.
• Timquorian Johnson and Lamont Jackson each had ten points for CRC.
• UHSP went 9-for-23 from downtown (39.1%) while CRC was 6-of-16 (37.5%). The nine made triples are the most for the Eutectics in their last four games.
• Overall from the floor, UHSP's 47.1 was their best in any of their past seven games. They were 24-of-51 while the Pioneers 29-for-59 (49.2%).
• The solid shooting did not leave a lot of rebounds to be had. Crowley's Ridge had two more boards than UHSP 35-33.
• The game featured 13 ties and 20 lead changes and was tied at 34-34 at the half. Neither team ever led by more than six.
• The Pioneers improved to 8-6 against the Eutectics since 1999.

UP NEXT:

The Eutectics (6-13, 0-10 AMC) are right back on their home floor come Saturday when Central Baptist visits. The Mustangs are the AMC front-runners at 9-1 with an overall mark of 15-4. CBC is coming off their first conference loss as they fell at William Woods on Thursday night, 79-74. Tip-off on Saturday is slated for 3:00p.