Eagles Erase 20-Point Deficit in Overtime Loss to Warriors

STERLING, Kan. – Exploding down the home stretch of the second half, Avila men's basketball erased a deficit of 22 points over the game's final 17 minutes to send it into overtime, but in the extra session Sterling (9-6, 5-4 KCAC) simply made a couple more plays and a couple more shots, allowing the Warriors to survive in an 85-81 win over the Eagles (2-12, 1-8 KCAC) on Wednesday night in Sterling.

The doormats of the KCAC no longer, this year's Warrior team is much improved from the Sterling of recent seasons under the direction of a new head coach with many different players in tow. Avila was missing a handful of regular in its first game of the 2023 slate of the season, and Sterling took advantage in the middle stages of the first half to begin to provide some separation.

Playing in his first game since last fall, Tyree King connected on his first shot of the season and later hit a pair of free throws to tie things up at eight apiece just past the five-minute mark of the first half. But Sterling started to take over from there, building up a 20-12 lead over the following four minutes. Buckets from Tremaine Banks and Josh Kilpatrick helped Avila cut the deficit down to five on a few occasions, but Sterling held Avila scoreless over the final four minutes of the first half to build a 39-26 lead going into the break.

That strong stretch continued to start the second half, with the Warriors scoring the first nine points of the period to increase their lead to 22 points, 48-26, with 16:58 to play. A 17-0 Sterling run spanning seven minutes of game time had given the Warriors their largest lead of the night, and put the shorthanded Eagles in a huge bind.

But the Eagles never gave up. Instead, head coach Bill Sloan deployed different lineup combinations and different personnel than he has at other times this season, and his team responded by stunningly pulling off a massive comeback in less than a half of game time.

The Eagles couldn't get closer than within 20 points for the first few minutes, but then, just before the midway point of the half, the floodgates started to open: trailing 55-35, the Eagles reeled off 12 straight points, anchored by back to back buckets from Dylan Holloman, to cut the deficit down to single digits. A clutch three from Cedric Rollerson stopped Sterling's bleeding somewhat at the 8-minute mark, but Holloman then ripped the bandage back off by draining an answer three and setting up Jaylin Dinkins for one of his own to get Avila within eight points with seven to play.

As he has been so often in his Avila career, Donte' Simpson was excellent from the foul line in the second half to drive the comeback. Simpson made six straight foul shots over one stretch in the game, including two technical free throws, to get Avila within a point, before King scored on the ensuing possession to give the Eagles their first lead of the night, 65-64, with 2:28 to play.

Less than 15 minutes after trailing by 22, the comeback was complete. Unfortunately for the Eagles, the game was far from over. Neither team could score a field goal in the final two minutes, sending the game into overtime tied at 65. And the extra sessions literally went back and forth to begin with, with both teams seemingly dead set on earning the win: Rollerson hit a three to start but Dinkins immediately canceled it out. Will Thigpen made a shot that Dinkins nullified with two free throws. Derrian Reed then made a jumper and it was King's turn for an equalizer, tying the game up at 72.

Sterling finally made the first big move of overtime and opened up a six-point lead, but clutch threes from Dinkins and Josh Kilpatrick kept the Eagles within reach. With ten seconds left and a one-point lead, Rollerson made his first three throw but missed the second, giving the Eagles a chance – but the Warriors snagged the free ball and won another trip to the line for Rollerson, and he made good on his second chance, sinking both free throws with seven seconds left to secure an 85-81 overtime win despite the Eagles' killer comeback.

Rollerson stole the show for the new-look Warriors, dropping a game-high 24 points with seven rebounds and six assists; holdover Reed scored 19 while Thigpen added 15 with nine boards. The Eagles were extremely balanced, with five players scoring in double figures and spreading the burden of digging out of a deep deficit. Kilpatrick scored 15 points off the bench, both Dinkins and King scored 14 and Banks scored 11; Simpson finished 10-of-13 from the foul line to score a team-high 16 points along with five boards and four assists, and never left the floor in the 45-minute affair.

Up next, Avila men's basketball will remain on the road to start off 2023 when the Eagles travel to Hillsboro, Kansas to take on Tabor on Saturday, January 7. The women's game will tip off at 5 PM with the men to follow at 7; as always, you can watch all the action on the KCAC Network.