By Bridget Bauer
FORT SMITH — Take away the beginning of the first quarter and the last three minutes of the fourth period Thursday, and the Bryant Hornets played with the undefeated Springdale Bulldogs in the first round of the 2013 Coke Classic at the UAFS Stubblefield Center.
After falling behind 17-7 in the first stanza, the Hornets (3-5) fought back to tie the contest at 28 at halftime, 42-all going into the fourth quarter and led on two separate occasions in the fourth period before losing 64-55. With 2:28 left in the contest, the Hornets trailed 55-53 before the Bulldogs (6-0) ended the contest on a 9-2 scoring run.
“We’ve played some good teams who are more experienced than us,” Bryant coach Mike Abrahamson said. “Their experience is showing, and our inexperience is showing. I’m ready to get past that. We are at the point where we’ve been through enough games to not make turnovers at crucial points.”
After seeing Springdale play a few times, Abrahamson said Bryant’s game plan was to make the Bulldogs shoot the trey. It happened twice (0-2) in the first half while Springdale was 3-of-10 in the second half. He knew the Bulldogs could score underneath but wasn’t sure whether they could shoot the 3-pointer.
“In that first five minutes when we were down 17-7, they were hitting everything around the rim and didn’t make a 3 the first half,” Abrahamson said. “I called a timeout and reminded them to stick to the game plan. When we did that, things got better.”
Seven ties and eight lead changes occurred in the contest. The Hornets outscored Springdale in the second period to force the 28-all tie at the half. With 1:36 left in the first half, freshman Romen Martin nailed a 3-pointer to give Bryant a 28-24 edge. However, the Bulldogs took advantage of a turnover and second shot to knot the score.
In the third quarter, Springdale quickly jumped out to a five-point lead, 33-28, before the Hornets tied the game at 33-all on a 3-point basket by senior Grayson Giles and a Cedarrian Crosby layup. The biggest lead after that was 4 before the score was tied twice at 38-all and at the end of the period, 42-42.
In the fourth period, the Hornets’ inexperience showed, and Springdale slowly pulled away from Bryant. The last time the contest was deadlocked was at 46-all with 5:41 left in the game. Turnovers and Bulldog second-chance shots doomed the Hornets. Bryant finished the game with 16 turnovers.
“If you look at Springdale, they aren’t much taller than us,” Abrahamson said. “But, they don’t look like kids like we do. They look like men and don’t panic. We have two freshmen and a sophomore and six of our eight guys have never been in this situation.”
Four players reached double digits and include a trio with 13 points. Crosby, a senior, recorded a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds while senior C.J. Rainey and freshman Desmond Duckworth each chipped in 13 points. Giles finished with 11 points.
“I thought Duckworth played well, his best game of the year,” Abrahamson said. “At times, he has struggled against more seasoned and experienced players but to his credit he has responded to coaching and asked questions. Martin was very efficient and Cedarrian was a big lift.”
Bryant faces Subiaco, an 85-59 losser to Fort Smith Northside, at 2:30 p.m. Friday.
Bryant 11-17-14-13—55
Springdale 17-11-14-22—64
Bryant: Desmond Duckworth 13, C.J. Rainey 13, Cedarrian Crosby 13, Greyson Giles 11, Romen Martin 3, Kevin Hunt 2.
Springdale: Tereke Eckwood 19, Chris Owens 19, Brendan Cook 12, Drake Wymer 7, DJ Evans 6, Treshawn Gause 1.
