Hornets notch must-win over LR Catholic
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
BRYANT TIMES
LITTLE ROCK — With three minutes to play in a game they absolutely had to win to keep any hope of postseason action alive, the Bryant Hornets found themselves clinging to a 29-27 lead over the Little Rock Catholic Rockets at their gym.
Senior Micah Farish found a seam in the Rockets’ defense and drove for a layup. He was also fouled on the play. His free throw gave Bryant a 5-point edge.
But Catholic, desperately seeking their first conference win after six disappointments, answered with a basket on a shot from the lane by Eric Arthur, making it a 32-29 with two minutes left.
A Bryant miss was rebounded by the Rockets’ Stephen Sanders and he was fouled on the play. But Sanders missed the front end of the one-and-one and, with 1:41 left, the Hornets made the Rockets pay when Farish was fouled on the rebound and went to the other end and drained both free throws to bump the margin back to 5.
Moments later, Phillip Porchay flashed for a steal and drove the length where he was fouled. His free throws gave Bryant a 36-29 advantage, matching its largest lead of the game, with 1:31 to go.
The Hornets hit six more their free throws after that to keep the Rockets at bay, forging a 42-36 victory.
In fact, Bryant converted 14 of 16 free throws in the fourth quarter and 18 of 21 for the game. Farish, who led the Hornets with 14 points, was 8 for 8 at the line. Porchay was 5 of 6 as part of his 8 points. Jeremy Nordman finished with 11 points.
It may have been a costly outing, however, as 6-5 senior center Chase Shaw suffered a painful shoulder injury late in the game. Shaw, the backbone of the team’s defense and a tenacious rebounder, was scheduled to have an MRI on the injured area on Monday, Jan. 30.
With the win, Bryant finishes the first half of the double round-robin of league play with a 2-5 mark, 11-8 overall, two games behind fourth-place Little Rock McClellan and one behind fifth-place Little Rock Central. The Hornets were set to host Central on Tuesday, Jan. 31 before visiting McClellan on Friday, Feb. 3.
Against Catholic, Bryant trailed much of the first half but only once by as much as 4. The Rockets led 6-5 going into the second period then 7-5 when Jake Bequette hit a free throw.
But Farish came through with a three-point play to put the Hornets on top. A short jumper by Arthur swung the lead back to Catholic momentarily but after Farish scored off a baseline drive, the Rockets were unable to regain the lead the rest of the game.
Nordman posted up for a basket that Arthur countered. But the Hornets worked inside-out to get an open look from 3-point range for Nordman. After missing his first three long-range shots, the sharp-shooting junior took a pass from Shaw and knocked it down to give his team a 15-11 lead at the half.
The Rockets scored the first two buckets of the second half to tie it at 15. But Nordman flushed back-to-back treys to give Bryant a 21-15 advantage. After Arthur scored again, Porchay canned a triple and the Hornets had their largest lead at 24-17 with 2:49 left in the third quarter.
Arthur trimmed two free throws off that margin in the final minute of the period to make it a 5-point game going into the fourth quarter.
The Hornets still led 29-22 with 4:24 left in the game but Shaw was injured moments later and Bequette and Arthur started taking advantage inside and that’s when the Rockets trimmed the lead to 2.
