Bryant holds on, upsets LR Central
BRYANT 47, LR CENTRAL 44
Bryant jumped out to a big first-half lead and survived a furious second-half rally to upset No. 1 Little Rock Central 47-44 at Boone-Fitzpatrick Fieldhouse in Little Rock and extend its winning streak up to 18 games.
It’s a four-quarter game, tale of two halves there,” Bryant Coach Mike Abrahamson said. “We had a great first half, they had a great second half. We knew they were going to come back strong and respond. I mean they’re really good. Not surprised that they fought back and played that way. I’m proud of our guys for hanging on.”
The Hornets used a 12-0 run to take a 17-6 lead early in the second quarter. Junior guard Kellen Robinson made four three-pointers in the first half and led Bryant to a 34-17 lead at halftime. Robinson scored 14 of his team-high 16 points in the first half to spearhead the Hornets early.
“He’s awesome all the time,” Abrahamson said of Robinson. “He’s just an awesome person. He is excellent in everything he does. It’s a way of life for him and he’s not the only one on our team that’s like that. He is the definition of excellence.”
Central came out of the break inspired and immediately began to chip away at the deficit. The Tigers outscored the Hornets 16-7 in the third quarter to cut the lead to 41-33 entering the fourth quarter.
University of Missouri signee Annor Boateng scored nine of his game-high 17 points in the second half, including a slam dunk in the fourth quarter that brought the home fans to their feet as the Bryant lead was cut to just six points.
The Tigers pulled within 46-44 on a layup from Boateng with less than a minute left, but late turnovers proved to be costly as Bryant survived to pull off the upset.
Following a turnover on a drive to the basket from Boateng, Camarion Bead made a free throw with less than five seconds remaining to give the Hornets a 47-44 lead. Robinson intercepted the final inbound pass from Central to secure the win.
“Just not panicking,” Abrahamson said as the reason his team was able to survive Central’s late rally. “Just not giving into the environment and their play. We really didn’t play well in the second half, but I thought we got some really good shots. Then we got a little tentative with our passing. It’s a good learning experience, but we’re glad to win it and learn instead of falling apart and losing it.”
Sophomore guard RJ Young scored 14 points for Bryant, including 10 in the first half. Senior forward Chris Washington scored 10 points for Central, while senior guard Daniel Culberson added nine.
Despite the massive victory, Abrahamson made it clear that it’s just one win for his team and there is still a long way to go in the season. The teams meet again in Bryant on Feb. 2.
“We try to do our best every game and we prepare to win every game,” he said. “We expect to win every game, but it’s January and we got a long way to go. We’ll see them at least one more time and we know that.”