Pilots Thrive in overtime to defeat Wiley
February 23, 2012
MARSHALL, Tex. - The no. 19 LSU Shreveport Pilots men's basketball team spoiled the second to last home game of the season for Wiley College with a 66-64 overtime win at the Alumni Gym. LSUS outscored the Wildcats 8-6 in the extra period to pick up their second straight win.
Greg Shyne led all scorers with 20 points on a list that had two other Pilots with double-doubles. Isiah Bazile picked up his fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and 13 rebounds while Rydell Harris got his first with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Derrick Parker just missed the double figures list with nine points while Cody Walker hit some big free-throws in overtime as he finished with eight points.
LSUS (21-7, 19-4 RRAC) shot 54% in the first half but the offense was cooled off by the Wiley defense holding the Pilots to just 29% for the second half and overtime period on a night where 22 turnovers were almost too much for the visitors to overcome. Wiley (19-8, 15-7 RRAC) had 13 points off LSUS turnovers while the Pilots scored just six off 17 Wildcat mistakes.
The game was evenly matched on the scoreboard throughout as neither team held more than a nine-point lead which the Pilots had towards the end of the first half. Wiley never had a lead larger than five.
With the win LSUS is just half a game out of first place in the RRAC regular season standings with just one game to play. The no. 7 OLLU Saints are in the lead but they still have two games to play as they host Langston on Saturday and travel to Jarvis to end the regular season on Monday at 7:30. A loss in both of these contests and a win by the Pilots over Texas College on Monday would earn LSUS the RRAC regular season title. However, if OLLU splits their final two games and LSUS wins on Monday then there would be a tie and co-champions would be named for the regular season.
