Pilots improve to 4-0 with 92-86 win over SAGU
November 17, 2004
Waxahachie, TX- After a 105-91 win over the Southwestern Assemblies (1-4) of God Lions Friday night at the Dock, the LSUS Pilots (4-0) traveled to Waxahachie,TX for the back end of a home-and-home series Tuesday night versus the defending 2004 NBCAA Division 1 National Champions, SAGU Lions.
The Pilots dominated the pace early in the first half building a lead as high as 14-points, thanks to a dominate performance by Fredericko Payne. Payne connected on 5 three-pointers and finished with 19 points at the half. While Payne controlled the perimeter, Derrick Sowell, Derrick Hill, and Abraham Saxson were doing the work down low for the Pilots collecting a combined 18 rebounds, 13 points, and 5 blocked shots.
Nikola Lucic found his range late and made good on 6 field goal attempts for 13 points and collected 7 rebounds leading SAGU on a late run which brought the Pilot lead to single digits and the halftime score to 44-35 in favor of the Pilots.
Just when it looked as if the Pilots had pulled away as they went up 12 points after Justin Collins connected on two free-throw attempts with 2:20 remaining in the game, Tigers Jason Blake sparked a late Tigers comeback. Blake connected on 4 field goals in the final two minutes and SAGU found themselves only down 3 points with 0:30 seconds remaining. With the clock winding down, the Tigers were forced to foul Justin Collins to stop the clock which sent Collins to the line for two free throws. The Pilot senior and floor general connected on both free throws to push the Pilot lead to back to 5. The Tigers put up a great fight, but in the end, it was the Pilots who picked up the 92-86 victory and improved to 4-0 on the year.
“That was a tough one. When we were in a timeout with two minutes left, even though we were up 10 points, I told our guys we were still 2 possessions away from winning this game.” stated a very excited Chad McDowell after the Pilots 3rd road win of the year. “We needed that. A close one on the road which makes us battle to the end, make good decisions, and make free throws in the last minute to win will help us down the road when we get into our very tough conference play.”
Pilots Fredericko Payne led all scorers with 35 points. Derrick Sowell 16, followed by Derrick Hill who had 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Pilots.
Matt Daniels had 25 points and 8 rebounds to lead the Tigers offense. Jason Johnson followed with 19 points and 8 rebounds, and Nikola Lucic rounded out the SAGU scoring 17 points and a game high 12 rebounds.
The Pilots will be in action again November 22 when they will play host to East Texas Baptist University. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30pm at the Dock.
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