MEMPHIS-Stillman guard Antonio Penny sank a contested floater with 3.9 seconds left to lift the visiting Tigers to a 69-67 win over the Christian Brothers University Bucs Sunday afternoon at Canale Arena.
HOW IT HAPPENED:• The Tigers (2-0) led for most of the game, using a 9-0 burst to take an 11-7 lead on a Maurice Crenshw triple with 15:42 remaining in the first half after the Bucs (0-2) had jumped out to a 7-2 start.
• Stillman threatened to pull away late in the first half, using a 9-2 run to take a 36-26 lead on a Crenshaw trey with 1:13 remaining in the first half.
• The Bucs countered with a 10-2 run of their own, capped by a
Drew Hildreth (Memphis, Tenn./Bolton HS) three-point play that brought them within 38-36 with 19:52 remaining.
• CBU finally regained the lead when
Jeff Larkin (Cincinnati, Ohio/La Salle HS) capped a 7-0 burst with a three-pointer to give CBU a 47-46 edge with 14:28 remaining, and the Bucs used a 10-2 run capped by a pair of
Adam Dieball (Cincinnati, Ohio/Lakota East HS) free throws to take a 57-51 lead with 6:46 to play.
• The Tigers steadily cut into the lead, eventually tying the score at 60 with 3:01 remaining. After ties at 62-62 and 64-64, each team sank one free throw to tie the score at 65 again, and Penny scored a layup off a Ronald Singleton feed with 44 seconds remaining to give Stillman a 67-65 lead.
• Larkin answered for the Bucs, scoring the tying basket with 26 seconds remaining, setting the stage for Penny's game-winner.
KEY STATS:• Larkin scored a game-high 22 points for the Bucs, adding four assists and three steals.
• Hildreth added 13 points with a game-high nine rebounds.
•
Jordan Miller (Fulton, Ky./Fulton City HS) scored all 12 of his points in the second half, adding four rebounds and three assists.
• Dieball tacked on 10 with four rebounds.
• The Bucs shot 47.8 percent (22-of-46) for the game to the Tigers' 45.5 percent (25-of-55). CBU shot just 25 percent (4-of-16) from three-point range to the Tigers' 36.4 percent (4-of-11).
• The Bucs out-rebounded the Tigers 31-28, but the Tigers held an 11-8 edge in offensive rebounds and a 20-18 advantage in turnovers.
COACH'S THOUGHTS:"We came a long way from Friday night. It hurts bad because it would have been such a good win for us. But the first question coming in, we had to show we're better than we played the other night. And we did that. There's still so much growth to this team."
On the game-winning shot:"That was a tough shot. If you draw it up defensively, that's a shot we're going to give up, so you have to live with that."
WHAT'S NEXT:The Bucs hit the road for a pair of games next week. They visit Trevecca Nazarene Thursday night at 7 p.m. before traveling to No. 5 Bellarmine Saturday night at 6 p.m. Their next home game is Tuesday, Nov. 24, as they host Harding at 7 p.m.
