Game Recep by Samuel Tschetter
After falling behind by 15 early, Calvary fought its way back into the game against the Saints of CCCB.
The contest began well enough for the Warriors as Zeb Green scored on the game’s opening possession, holding their own through the first three minutes. The Saints then went on a 10-0 run to take a 15-6 lead with 15 minutes left in the first half.
Led by full-court pressure defensively CCCB was able to take a 15 point lead multiple times over the next ten minutes. But, head coach Matt Sanders was able to stop the bleeding, “They pressed us early and we turned it over. Then through a couple of timeouts, we made some changes and just chipped away at the lead.”
Sparked by solid shooting all around and a pair of 3’s from Jay Lems, with four seconds left in the half CU had the Saint lead down to six, with possession. Off of an AJ Bordallo inbound pass, Jax Bell was able to find Cam Bender for an open, buzzer-beating three to cut the lead in half before the break.
Both teams came out of halftime evenly matched with the game staying close for its entirety. With 16 minutes left in the game, CU was able to grab its first lead since the 17-minute mark of the first half, 47-46. The teams went back and forth until some quick steals led to easy buckets for the Saints who held a 61-56 advantage with 11 minutes to play. However, the Warriors did not go away and after a pair of and-one conversions by Green and a 3 from Benjamin Jones CU held a two-point lead 68-66.
Central defensive adjustments and foul trouble then caught up with the Warriors and CCCB went on an 8-0 run to take the lead. Sanders said, “They called a timeout, went to a zone and we didn’t handle it well.” But clutch three-point shooting kept Calvary in the game the whole way. After a Lems 3-pointer CU needed a steal with 1.4 seconds left for a chance to force overtime, but couldn’t come away with the ball, falling to the Saints 87-84.
Zeb Green led the scoring for Calvary with 24 points going 6-7 from the free-throw line. Jay Lems added 19, Benjamin Jones was also in double figures with 10. Green, Jones, and Ques Harris led the team with 6 rebounds a piece. The Warriors shot 47% from the field as a team.
Trey Black led CCCB in scoring with 19.
With the loss, CU falls to 4-4 on the season and will look to get back on track on the road against Baptist Bible College on November 26.