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Falcons Lose On Buzzer Beater

1/25/2014 4:59:00 PM

XML Box Score Frederick, MD - Despite leading by as many as 10 points late in the game, the Falcons struggled to handle Hood's defensive pressure and squandered their advantage.  The Falcons turned the ball over with just 35 seconds left in the game, allowing the Blazers to get off two shots in their final possession.  Hood's game-winner came from Cameron Cook, who put back Chris Cook's off-the-mark three for the buzzer-beating 77-78 victory.

Taylor Groff led the Falcons with 20 points.  Three other Falcons added double-digit points - David Fernandez (17), Brad Bolen (16), and Scott Bolen (14).

In a repeat of their previous match up on December 11th, the Blazers applied consistent defensive pressure throughout the entire game.  Utilizing both a full-court and quarter-court press, Hood forced the Falcons to turn the ball over 16 total times, resulting in 22 points.

"We just didn't take a care of the ball in critical spots," head coach Rick Van Pelt said.  "We didn't make good decisions and the turnovers cost us."

The first half proved to be a back-and-forth affair with 12 different lead changes.  A very even effort from both teams led to neither team taking more than a four point lead through the first 14 minutes of play. 

The tides began to shift with 8:13 left in the half, when Cameron Cook's jumper initiated a 10-5 run for the Blazers.  They held onto the lead for the duration of the half and pulled ahead by as many as six points - their largest advantage of the half - at both the 3:21 and 1:52 marks.

With 1:22 to play, Scott Bolen hit a three and later followed it up with two free throws to draw the Falcons within three at the halftime break.

Trailing 34-37 at the start of the second half, the Falcons came out swinging and took control of the game.  In the first five minutes the Falcons forced the Blazers to turn the ball over four times, resulting in six points.  In less than five minutes, the Falcons outscored the Blazers 10-7 and had eliminated their deficit.

The Blazers bounced back, though, and posted eight points to take a narrow two point lead with 12:03 to play.  This would be their final lead until last play of the game.

In the next five minutes, the Falcons flew into action.  David Fernandez scored four points and Scott Bolen hit back-to-back threes to pull ahead 60-53.  Moments later, Brad Bolen drained a three and was followed up by a three-point play from his brother Scott, extending Messiah's lead to 66-56.  The Falcons seemed to be in complete control of the game when they reached another 10 point lead on a layup from Taylor Groff with 7:15 to play, but the Blazers had other ideas. 

Following an injury timeout, the Blazers hit back-to-back threes and added a layup to pull within two.  With 5:07 left in the game, the Blazers applied their full-court press and forced the Falcons turned the ball over in their next two possessions.  Fortunately for the Falcons, the Blazers were unable to convert the turnovers into points.

With 3:17 left to play, Taylor Groff's layup extended the Falcons' lead to four, but his efforts were nullified when Hood's Chris Cook drained a three to pull within one.  In their next two possessions, the Falcons jumped ahead by six after a three from Zac Hoy and another two-point bucket from Groff, yet the Blazers kept charging.  Matt Galloway hit his seventh three of the game to bring the Blazers right back into it with 1:06 to play.

Following a timeout, the Falcons looked to in-bound the ball under Hood's basket.  With the full-court pressure being applied, the Falcons threw a long lob to the other end of the court.  Hood's Davon Hill intercepted the pass and quickly pushed the ball up court and drove the lane.  On his way to the basket, Hoy bumped him and was called for the foul.  Hill made both free throws to pull within one point at 77-76 and just 35 seconds to play.

The Falcons found themselves in the same situation as before - in-bounding the ball under Hood's basket following a timeout.  This time, the Falcons cleanly in-bounded the ball, but the Blazers read the pass to midcourt and intercepted it.  The Blazers took their time with the ball and called a timeout with 10 seconds left in the game.

With the one point lead, the Falcons needed a defensive stop or poor shooting from the Blazers.  Unfortunately, they got neither.

In the final possession of the game, the Blazers' Chris Cook brought the ball in at midcourt and dribbled around the arc to fire a three with five clicks left on the clock.  The shot hit the front of the rim, took a big bounce back into play, and fell directly into the hands of Cameron Cook.  With his momentum going away from the basket, Cook tossed the ball back toward the rim and it fell through as the buzzer sounded; completing the 77-78 come-from-behind victory – their third straight win in the final five seconds of play.

"They [Hood] never quit playing," Van Pelt said.  "That final play really explained the entire game.  They had the grit and the determination to win.  We were missing that tonight."

With the result the Falcons move to 14-2 overall and 8-2 in the conference.  Hood improves to 13-4 overall and 7-3 in the conference.

The Falcons return to action next Wednesday when they host Elizabethtown College.  The game is set to begin at 8 p.m.

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