By Rob Patrick
SEARCY — So close.
At the end of their 40-27 loss to the rival Benton Panthers at home on Tuesday, Nov. 23, the Bryant Hornets had started to scramble[more] and press full court. It seemed to renew their energy level and it opened up some offensive opportunities — a welcome development after the Panthers, using a mixture of zones, had held Bryant to just 10 points almost two minutes into the fourth quarter. Over the final 6:20, the Hornets almost tripled their score while pulling within 10 three times. Free throws allowed Benton to maintain its advantage.
But when the two teams met again on Thursday in the first round of the Bank of Searcy Classic, the Hornets took right back up where they had left off. The result was season-high point production and a lead as late as the 3:30 mark of the game. In they end, they had a chance to tie and send the game into overtime but Jordan Griffin wound up having to force a 3-point try as Benton held on for a 50-47 win.
The Hornets will take on Searcy tonight at 7 in the second round of the Classic. They play Wynne on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
Though 0-3, the Hornets showed welcome progress Thursday especially in light of all the uncertainty they’re working through. Entering the week, the roster was still in flux as a pair of players that joined the team after football season changed their minds and bowed out. A couple of others are still being worked into the mix on a team that returned no starters and only a couple of players that saw much varsity time last season. With just two seniors who have had three coaches in three years, the Hornets are also incorporating eight eligible sophomores and a move-in under their new head coach.
It’s a process, but Thursday’s game, as frustrating as it was, proved to be an encouragement.
“It was more about us being more aggressive,” commented Hornets coach Mike Abrahamson. “I like the way we played, and I'm proud of the effort. Foul trouble hurt us early and turnovers hurt us late. In a close game, individual plays stand out that bite you in the end.
“But the way we played is closer to the way I want us to play,” he added. “That was a step in the right direction but we still have plenty of work to do.”
A huge difference in the game — and a key ingredient to the frustration level — was the fact that Benton shot 31 free throws to Bryant’s seven. The Hornets never got into the bonus while the veteran Panthers (six seniors and four returning starters) reached that point midway through each half. In fact, Bryant’s primary big man, Quinton Motto, picked up two fouls in the first minute of the game and had to sit most of the rest of the first half.
The Hornets committed 24 fouls to Benton’s 12.
Both teams were pressing, though Benton used zone defenses most of the game and the Panthers, with better size, were able to attack the basket and draw fouls more consistently.
Still, only the last two of those free throws came off chase-and-foul strategy when the Hornets were playing from behind.
It was Motto that capped a 7-0 run midway through the fourth quarter, which gave the Hornets a late lead. Bryant trailed 43-38 going into the final five minutes when Griffin, who led the Hornets with 13 points, made a steal and layup. Bryant forced another turnover and Brantley Cozart drained a 3 to tie it. Benton’s Eddie Poland misfired and Motto rebounded. At the other end, the Hornets pulled the ball out to use a little time and set up a play. They got an open look that didn’t fall but Motto snatched the carom and knocked down the follow to give them the lead.
Benton point guard Nate Griffin then created a spark for his team. He converted both ends of a one-and-one to tie the game then made a steal. After a timeout, however, the Hornets forced a Panther turnover to get a chance to regain the lead. But a held ball moments later, returned possession to Benton and, after working their passing game to whittle on the clock, Nate Griffin knocked down a 12-footer to put the Panthers back on top with 1:22 left.
Hornets’ senior Houston Garner who drained a pair of 3’s in the game on his way to 8 points, couldn’t get an answering trey to fall and Poland rebounded. The Panthers worked the clock down to :49.8 and took a timeout to set up a play that wound up working for a Tyler Gattin layup with :42.1 to go, making it 49-45.
After a Bryant timeout, the Hornets got a big bucket off the offensive glass by senior Kyle Nossaman to cut it back to 2. After another timeout, Poland was fouled with :16.2 showing.
He converted the first shot but missed the second and the Hornets worked to try to get an open 3 to tie. Benton pressured the perimeter resulting in Jordan Griffin’s last-ditch launch.
Along with Griffin’s 13, Cozart finished with 11. Motto finished with 6 in his limited time.
Nate Griffin led Benton with 10. Gattin and Luke Vance had 9 each.
Bryant started the game as well as they have in any so far this season running out to a 7-1 lead. Jordan Griffin got into the paint and was fouled twice to account for the first four points on free throws. (So Bryant shot just three more from the line the rest of the game.) After Vance hit a free throw to get Benton on the board with 5:12 left in the quarter, Cozart drilled a triple to make it 7-1.
And the Hornets had a chance to add to that after forcing a Benton turnover but Griffin’s shot refused to fall and the Panthers responded with a 15-2 run to build a 16-9 advantage early in the second quarter.
Eric Moore scored to get the Hornets back on track then, at the other end, absorbed a charge that Cozart cashed in with his second 3 to trim the margin to 16-14.
Graham Gardner hit a free throw but Houston Garner answered with a 3 from the corner off a nice feed from Nossaman to tie it at 17.
And when Gardner missed two free throws at the 5:09 mark, Nossaman got another assist as Cozart hit a layup to give the Hornets the lead.
But, sparked by three-point plays from Poland and Thaddeus Caffrey, the Panthers pushed out to a 26-19 lead. Two free throws by Garner and a layup off a steal by Jordan Griffin had Bryant back within 3 before Vance beat the buzzer with a layup to put the Panthers up 5 at the intermission.
Benton was able to produce leads of 7 and 8 in the third quarter but couldn’t shake the Hornets who rallied both times to keep it close. It was 30-23 early in the period when Motto hit a reverse layup and Jordan Griffin followed up with a 3 to make it 30-28.
Later, it was 38-30 when a trio of sophomores produced for Bryant. Aaron Bell drove and dished to Zach Cambron for a layup to make it 38-32 going into the fourth quarter. Leon Neale then got free behind the Benton zone and turned in a three-point play to start the fourth quarter, pulling the Hornets within 38-35.
Vance hit a free throw and Cozart flushed his third trey of the game to cut the lead to 1.
Two free throws by Vance and a basket by Trey Davis kept Benton on top before the Hornets put together the run that gained them the short-lived lead.
PANTHERS 50, HORNETS 47
Score by quarters
BRYANT 9 14 9 15 — 47
Benton 14 14 10 12 — 50
HORNETS 47
Player fg-fga ft-fta reb fls pts
o-d-t
J.Griffin 4-16 4-4 1-3 4 2 13
Cozart 4-9 0-0 1-2 3 4 11
H.Garner 2-5 2-2 2-2 4 2 8
Nossaman 1-4 0-0 1-1 2 2 2
Motto 3-4 0-0 1-2 3 4 6
Cambron 1-2 0-0 0-2 2 2 2
Neale 1-3 1-1 0-0 0 1 3
Trudell 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Moore 1-1 0-0 1-1 2 4 2
Bell 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 0
Royal 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Team 1-2 3
Totals 17-45 7-7 8-15 23 24 47
PANTHERS 50
Player fg-fga ft-fta reb fls pts
o-d-t
N.Griffin 3-6 4-4 0-2 2 0 10
Gattin 3-6 2-2 0-0 0 1 9
Gardner 3-5 1-5 2-2 4 2 7
Poland 2-6 2-3 1-4 5 0 6
Vance 2-6 5-8 3-6 9 3 9
Davis 1-2 3-4 0-1 1 2 5
Shelnutt 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 3 0
Caffrey 1-1 2-3 0-2 2 0 4
N.Garner 0-0 0-2 0-2 2 1 0
Team 0-1 1
Totals 15-32 19-31 6-20 26 12 50
Three-point field goals: Bryant 6-22 (Cozart 3-8, H.Garner 2-4, J.Griffin 1-8, Nossaman 0-1, Neale 0-1), Benton 1-9 (Gattin 1-4, Poland 0-3, N.Griffin 0-2). Turnovers: Bryant 20, Benton 20. Technical fouls: Bryant, assistant coach Pennington.
