Skipjack comeback falls just short
CUMBERLAND – It took just one game for Joel Dearring to learn his Skipjacks don’t consider giving up an option.
Chesapeake College, which trailed by 14 points with less than five minutes remaining, nearly erased the entire deficit before dropping a 79-77 men’s basketball decision Thursday night to host Allegany College of Maryland. Akanni Salako had an open look at a potential, game-tying trey with 30 seconds left and the Skipjacks had one final opportunity to tie or win the game before turning the ball over with three seconds remaining in the hard-fought contest.
“There’s no quit in these guys,” Dearring said after the Skipjacks came up just short in their season-opening effort. “Some lesser teams would have quit.”
Allegany head coach Mike Baker was equally impressed with the Skipjacks’ effort.
“I thought they out-scrapped us tonight,” said Baker. “I’ll give Joel Dearring all the credit in the world. He’s gotten them to buy into his system. Effort is a lot of this game. We got them down 16 and that team wouldn’t give up.”
Chesapeake trailed by 11in the first half before a late spurt pulled the Skipjacks within 40-32 at the break. Allegany pushed the lead back to 11 points, 50-39, as Alex Brayboy dropped in six straight points, but the Skipjacks answered with a 7-0 run. Justin May (four points, four rebounds, four assists) and Louis Simpson hit layups and Chad Church (five points, eight rebounds, four steals) nailed a 3-pointer to cut Chesapeake’s deficit to 50-46 with 14:19 remaining.
Allegany then tried to break the game open with a 16-4 run highlighted by Brayboy’s inside play. He hit two baseline layups and a pair of free throws during the run, which also included five points from Larry Terry on a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws as the lead grew to 66-50.
The Trojans (1-2) still led by 14 points before Chesapeake scored seven straight points to get back in the game. Louis Simpson hit a layup, Dion Bivens drained a 3-pointer, and Geran Pope (14 points, 14 rebounds) tipped in his own miss to get the Skipjacks within 73-66 with 3:12 remaining.
Chesapeake trailed by nine, 75-66, when Salako hit a layup and a turnaround jumper, and Bivens (19 points) scored on a driving layup to get the Skipjacks within 75-72 with 1:09 remaining. Ricky Mosley’s tip-in with 49 seconds left stretched the Allegany lead to five, but Bivens hit both ends of a one-and-one with 39 seconds left to pull Chesapeake within 77-74.
The Skipjacks then forced Allegany into a backcourt turnover, giving them an opportunity to tie the game. Salako (19 points) got an open load at a potential game-tying trey, but couldn’t convert.
Mosley then split a pair of free throws to give the Trojans a 78-74 lead, but Bivens (four rebounds) answered with a 3-pointer that cut Allegany’s lead to a single point with 5.5 seconds remaining.
Garrett D’Atri made the first of two free throws to give Allegany a 79-77 lead, but he missed the second and Chesapeake controlled the ball with three seconds left. After a timeout, Church attempted a court-long pass, but the pass hit the ceiling to end Chesapeake’s hopes for a successful comeback.
Mosley led all scorers with 27points while Brayboy added 17 and Terry chipped in 16 points.
While pleased with his team’s fighting spirit, Dearring wouldn’t have minded a little more consistency.
“Slowly but surely they’ll learn if they play that way the entire game they will control their own destiny,” said Dearring.