Hornets battle Sheridan into overtime to notch first win
EDITOR’S NOTE: Because the look back at each day in Bryant athletic history has been so favorably received during the time when there was no sports during the COVID-19 shutdown, BryantDaily.com will continueposting past stories of Bryant athletics either posted on BryantDaily.com (from 2009 to the present) or published in the Bryant Times (from 1998 to 2008).
By Rob Patrick
RUSSELLVILLE — After scoring 11 points in the fourth quarter including a long 3-pointer in the final seconds to send the game to overtime, Sheridan’s R.J. Comic managed just one shot attempt in the extra period as Bryant senior Kyle Nossaman,[more] with help from his teammates, blanketed the 6-5 bomber who had beaten the Hornets last year on a last-second 3 at Sheridan.
And with senior Houston Garner scoring 5 points in the extra period and juniors Quinton Motto and Jordan Griffin adding clutch free throws, the Hornets captured a 43-38 victory on Friday night in the consolation round of the Cyclone Classic at Russellville High School.
It was the Hornets’ first win of the season, the first for new head coach Mike Abrahamson.
Bryant returns to Russellville this afternoon to play at 4:30 against either Camden Fairview or Subiaco Academy.
Garner lofted a base-line jumper over Comic that snapped the 35-35 tie at the start of overtime. Sheridan’s Blake Gibbs answered with a 3, giving his team the lead with 2:44 to go.
Both teams had two chances to change the score. Griffin misfired on a 3 but then an offensive foul by Sheridan cost them an opportunity. The Hornets, however, turned the ball over and Comic missed his lone attempt of the OT under pressure from Nossaman.
Then, with 1:06 to play, Garner, who had 10 points in the game, nailed a 3 from the left corner to put the Hornets ahead to stay.
Motto took a charge at the other end with :48.6 to go and, moments later, he was fouled. He converted one of the free throws which left the door open for the Yellowjackets, down 41-38.
With seven 3’s already in the game, the Jackets couldn’t shake free Comic, who had accounted for four of those triples. Gibbs launched one and missed but teammate Carlos Perez gathered the rebound under the basket. The Hornets, however, took it away and got a timeout with :07.3 on the clock.
When play resumed, Griffin was fouled and, by connecting on both free throws, iced the game for the Hornets.
The game started out being contested desperately by the two teams. Both were pressing and being physical. The officials were letting them play but then, at some point, they appeared to determine that they needed to get control of the roughness and started calling fouls. Before the half was over, 26 fouls had been cited between the two teams, 14 on Sheridan.
Both teams had players in foul trouble, which affected the way play continued. Bryant cut down in the second half, but Sheridan suffered 13 more fouls. For the first time this season, the Hornets wound up shooting more free throws than their opponent. They went 23 of 30 at the line while Sheridan went 3 of 9, numbers that Bryant has usually been on the short side of.
Griffin was the primary beneficiary. He went 12 of 12 from the stripe as part of his team-high 17 points. Motto who finished with 9 points was 7 of 10 from the line.
“I wanted to play a very fast-paced game and sub frequently to try to wear them down,” Abrahamson said, “but we got into foul trouble, some of our key guys, early. So we had to adjust.
“It seemed like there was a stretch there, we went down the court about eight times in a row and there was a foul,” he mentioned. “And they were fouls. We did have our hands on guys. A lot of officials don’t call those. I will say, they were fouls so I wasn’t really upset with the officiating. It was just something that we had to adjust to.
“There were some guys that really stepped up for us who contributed and wound up playing a lot of minutes,” he related. “I thought Jordan Griffin played the whole game. He got his third foul pretty early in the third quarter and he did a great job of hanging in there and still playing without fouling, and not getting that fourth, and still playing the way he’s supposed to play. I don’t think he sacrificed anything that we wanted to do. He was just able to adjust.
“Kyle Nossaman played a lot of minutes, Houston Garner played a lot of minutes,” the coach continued. “They really stepped up big for us. I thought Quinton played well. I thought Eric Moore came off the bench and did a really good job. He picked our team up with his enthusiasm and his defense and his rebounding. I think he only scored 1 point but he made a difference in the game. I thought Logan Trudell came off the bench and did a few things before he hurt his wrist.
“It was a good effort of some guys that had to play a lot of minutes or, in the case of some guys, that don’t play a lot of minutes but really stepped up,” Abrahamson summarized.
Garner scored the first basket of the game and Griffin dropped in his first two free throws to make it 4-0.
Dillon Oliver got the Jackets on the board with 5:35 left in the quarter, hitting a layup off a steal.
But, in the last five minutes of the quarter, Moore hit a free throw and Oliver added one. It was 5-3 going into the second quarter.
Things picked up from there. Comic’s jumper from the corner tied it but then Bryant put together a 10-1 run. They maintained the advantage until Comic’s game-tying 3 from NBA range at the end of regulation. Sheridan’s brief lead in the overtime was its only one of the game.
The Hornets’ run began with four free throws by Griffin. The second pair came after a technical was called against Comic, who got tangled up with Motto on a rebound under the Sheridan basket.
With the Hornets in the double bonus, Motto followed Griffin to the line and drained both shots to make it 11-5.
Moments later, Motto was at the line again, adding another free toss. After Comic hit a free throw to end his team’s dry spell, Garner canned a triple to put the Hornets up 15-6.
A jumper by Gibbs and a three-point play by Nick Ware kept Sheridan close but the Jackets were unable to score in the final 3:30 of the half. A basket by Griffin and free throws by Trudell and Griffin extended the margin to 20-11 at the intermission.
“We started playing more zone and that was just an attempt to keep some of our better players on the floor,” Abrahamson mentioned. “And I think we did a pretty good job with the zone. We only gave up 11 points in the first half. And even on into the second half, we were doing okay.”
Sheridan opened the second half with a 10-2 run fueled by Comic and Gibbs. Logan Trudell was fouled on a 3-point try and connected on two of his three free throws to provide Bryant’s points during that stretch.
With 3:31 left, Bryant was clinging to a 22-21 lead and Comic had a chance at the line to tie it of put his team ahead only to miss both shots. And, after a Bryant miss, Jessie Carter was fouled pulling down an offensive rebound for the Jackets. But he too missed both free throws.
Nossaman made them pay when he buried a 3 to make it 25-21 going into the fourth quarter.
And when Griffin opened the final period with a 3 and Motto added a free throw, Bryant had its largest lead of the game, 29-21, with 5:17 to play.
But Sheridan started bombing 3’s and rallied. Ware drained one and, after a free throw by Motto, Comic hit the first of three he got down in the final 2:30 of regulation.
Motto hit a base-line jumper to make it 32-27 but Comic canned a running jumper and Sheridan called timeout with :55.1 to go. When play resumed, Griffin popped two more free throws only to have Comic bust another trey to cut the lead to 2 with :34 left.
The Hornets had chances to extend the lead to a two-trip advantage but Nossaman missed the front end of a one-and-one with :25.5 showing. Motto grabbed the carom and was fouled. He, however, connected on only one of his two shots, leaving it a three-point game. Comic’s game-tying bomb came with :07 showing.
The Hornets rushed the ball up the court but Griffin’s 15-footer rimmed out.
“(Comic) really brought them back in the fourth quarter,” noted Abrahamson. “He hit some tough shots and some other guys hit one or two and they hung in there.“I thought both teams had opportunities where they could’ve folded and neither team did,” he added. “Each team kept fighting. I thought that was good for both teams. It was a tough game.”
Of his team’s effort, Abrahamson said, “I think they’re used to playing hard. That’s one habit we’ve been able to build. Obviously, we still made mistakes. We still had trouble scoring at times but then a lot of that has to do with what Sheridan was doing defensively. But, when you play hard, good things are bound to happen. I hope we can carry that over.”
HORNETS 43, YELLOWJACKETS 38, OT
Score by quarters
BRYANT 5 15 5 10 8 — 43
Sheridan 3 8 10 14 3 — 38
HORNETS 43
Player fg-fga ft-fta reb fls pts
o-d-t
Nossaman 1-5 0-1 2-1 3 1 3
Griffin 2-6 12-12 0-1 1 3 17
Garner 4-11 0-0 0-5 5 1 10
Cambron 0-1 0-0 0-1 1 2 0
Motto 1-2 7-10 3-4 7 3 9
Cozart 0-0 0-0 0-1 1 0 0
Neale 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Moore 0-0 1-2 3-1 4 1 1
Bell 0-1 0-0 1-1 2 3 0
Trudell 0-1 3-5 1-0 1 2 3
Team 2-0 2
Totals 8-27 23-30 12-15 27 17 43
YELLOWJACKETS 38
Player fg-fga ft-fta reb fls pts
o-d-t
Ware 2-6 1-1 0-1 1 4 6
Gibbs 4-10 0-0 1-2 3 4 10
Oliver 1-2 1-2 0-1 1 5 3
Comic 7-15 1-4 3-7 10 3 19
Carter 0-2 0-2 1-1 2 5 0
Smead 0-1 0-0 0-1 1 4 0
Strange 0-0 0-0 0-1 1 1 0
Mote 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Bray 0-0 0-0 1-0 1 0 0
Perez 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Team 2-0 2
Totals 14-36 3-9 8-14 22 27 38
Three-point field goals: Bryant 4-10 (Garner 2-6, Nossaman 1-2, Griffin 1-2), Sheridan 7-19 (Comic 4-7, Gibbs 2-7, Ware 1-4, Smead 0-1). Turnovers: Bryant 18, Sheridan 17. Technical foul: Sheridan, Comic.
