STATESMEN SUFFER NARROW 94-93 ROAD LOSS TO PITT C.C.
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Richard Bland College | 42 | 51 | 93 |
|
Pitt Community College | 42 | 52 | 94 |
GREENVILLE, NC. (Dec. 2, 2015) — Sophomore forward Devin Smith (Baltimore, MD/Randallstown) connected on a 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded, but his last ditch effort left the Richard Bland College men's basketball team one point shy of forcing overtime, as the Statesmen dropped a 94-93 contest to Pitt Community College on Wednesday evening in Region X Conference play.
The game figured to be a high scoring affair. Though early in the season, the host Bulldogs were averaging 117 points a game, tops in NJCAA Division II. The teams battled to a 42-42 deadlock at halftime and the Statesmen began the second half on a 6-0 run to take a 48-42 lead. Pitt C.C., which was powered by 37 points from freshman guard Jaiquan Manning, went on a late second half surge to push its lead to 11 points, which kept the Statesmen in comeback mode until the final buzzer.
The loss evens Richard Bland to 5-5 on the season and 2-1 in Region X. Pitt C.C. remains unbeaten at 4-0 and goes to 1-0 in the conference. The Statesmen will play one final road game this semester, visiting Catawba Valley C.C. on Saturday for a 1 p.m. game. Following Saturday's contest, RBC plays its next three games at Statesman Hall. Pitt C.C. plays back-to-back games, hosting the University of Mt. Olive-JV on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Pitt C.C. was able to knot the contest at 51-51 with 15:40 to play and then went on a mini 7-0 spurt to increase its lead to 58-51. With four minutes remaining the Bulldogs built a 77-66 margin, too large a deficit for Richard Bland to completely shave down despite Smith's last second 3-pointer.
Smith notched a career-high 24 points for Richard Bland. Fellow sophomore forward Troy Gibson (Newport News, VA/Heritage) tallied 19 points, his ninth game in double figures this season. Freshman guard Deandre Clark (Orange County, VA/Wakefield Private School) scored 11 points. Freshman center Jaquan Wooten (Hampton, VA/Phoebus) and Petersburg native Gevon Arrington (Petersburg, VA/Petersburg) each had 10 points for the Statesmen.