The King University men's basketball team battled from a significant second-half deficit Saturday afternoon, but a 27 point performance from Michael Mays wasn't enough for the Tornado, as they fell to conference foe Emmanuel 89-81.
THE BASICS
FINAL: Emmanuel 89, King 81
LOCATION: Shaw Athletic Center; Franklin Springs, Ga.
RECORDS: King 3-6, 2-1 Conference Carolinas; Emmanuel 5-4, 3-2 Conference Carolinas
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
- The Tornado and Lions started the game by trading buckets, with Jordan Akal hitting a layup before Mays connected on a three that tied the score at 5.
- After Emmanuel scored, Akal hit a three of his own, handing King a lead of 8-7.
- After a 7-1 run for Emmanuel that saw them take the lead, Mays would hit a pair of free throws, keeping the Tornado within four points.
- The Lions would take a 27-20 lead, but the Tornado would come storming back, as Henry Okoye drilled a three which Myles McCrary followed with a jumper to bring King to within 27-25 with just over five minutes to play.
- After an Emmanuel free throw, the Tornado would tie, then take the lead off back-to-back threes from Josh Jackson, putting King ahead 31-28.
- The Lions would pull even, before inching ahead to take a 46-42 lead into the halftime break.
- Coming out of the locker room, the Lions scored nine consecutive points to extend their lead to 55-42 before Mays hit a layup to bring the score to 55-44.
- After Emmanuel took a 68-50 lead, the Tornado got a layup from Jaylen Bernard that brought the score to 68-52 with 13:24 to play.
- That kicked off a stretch where the Tornado scored 15 consecutive points, quickly bringing themselves to within a single point with under eight minutes to play.
- The Lions would extend their lead to 78-73 with five minutes left, but the Tornado would quickly get back to within a bucket, as Bernard drilled a three.
- It was an 83-81 Emmanuel lead with under two minutes to play, but the Lions would score the final six points, escaping with an 89-81 win.
- Mays finished with 27 points, marking the third time in the last four games that he has cleared 20 points. He went a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line.
- McCrary finished with 11 points while Kenny Turner and Beasley both pulled five rebounds.
- Kelvin Jones played the full 40 minutes, scoring 39 points, which is tied for 6th-most in NCAA Division II this season. He also led the team with eight rebounds, while Trell Washington had seven rebounds.
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