Flores Leads Marshall Law Past ΠΚΦ

Todd Thomas

Staff Writer

MACON – Marshall Law finished a combined 14 of 21 (67%) from the line, led by Cody Flores’ 7 of 8 (88%), in order to hold off ΠΚΦ in a defensive struggle Wednesday night on Court One.  Flores’ final free throw of the night with half a second remaining pushed the final margin to 39-36, and a last second prayer from ΠΚΦ’s T.C Dinkins fell short.  Flores led Marshall Law with 12 points, and ΠΚΦ’s Rich Pipe led all scorers with 13 in a losing effort.

            Both teams hope that their defenses will carry them through the rest of the young season, as this game was a showcase of two of the best defenses in the Men’s Competitive League.  The teams sporadically traded baskets for the first 15 minutes of the game, with ΠΚΦ pulling ahead 12-10.  A short burst to close the half, finished with Flores’ jump shot with his toes on the line gave Marshall Law the 14-12 lead they would take into the locker room.  

            The second half began much as the first, with the teams playing hard defense that never led to much separation in the score.  After a Justin Julian sky hook pushed the Marshall Law lead to 21-16 at the 13 minute mark, Dinkins cut the lead to two with a steal and lay-up.  In the subsequent possession, Flores would not be denied as his 3-point basket filled the net to give Marshall Law their biggest lead at 24-18 with ten minutes left to play.

            From that point forward, ΠΚΦ continued to fight in order to cut the lead but Marshall Law had one too many answers.  After the lead had been cut back down to two, Matthew Swanson pushed the lead back to four.  After ΠΚΦ answered back with a three point score from Drew Wilson, free throws from Swanson rebuilt the lead to three.

            After Flores’ drained two free throws to push the lead to five, Pipe drained the second of his three 3-point shots to cut the lead to two with 20 seconds on the clock.  A quick foul by ΠΚΦ put Wilson on the line.  After missing the front end, Wilson drained the second free throw to push the lead to 36-33 with 19 seconds remaining.  Another Marshall Law free throw pushed the lead to 37-33, but the lead was cut to one after Pipe’s third 3-point field goal with 1.4 seconds remaining.  Flores was fouled once again, and completed his strong day at the line by finishing the scoring with two free throws to build the final margin to 39-36.

 

BOX SCORE (UNOFFICIAL)

 

MARSHALL LAW

 

15 Beecher, Christopher…. 2 points, 4 rebounds

2 Bowen, Opie…………………. 4 points, 3 rebounds

21 Evans, Terry…………………. 1 point, 2 rebounds, 1 steal

33 Julian, Justin………………… 8 points, 2 rebounds, 4 for 5 FG

12 Swanson, Matthew……… 10 points, 2 rebounds, 6 for 10 FT      

10 Huffman, Blake…………… 0 points, 0 rebounds, 0 for 3 3FG

7 Flores, Cody………………….. 12 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 for 4 3FG, 7 for 8 FT

0 Peoples, Adam……………… 2 points, 1 rebound, 0 for 1 3FG

 

ΠΚΦ

15 Billings, Dan………………… 6 points, 4 rebounds, 3 for 7 FG

6 Dinkins, TC…………………….. 6 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal, 0 for 4 FT

25 Elliott, Leighton…………… 6 points, 1 rebound, 4 for 7 FT

10 Espy, Edward……………….. 0 points, 0 for 1 3FG

83 Pipe, Rich……………………… 13 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, 3 for 9 3FG, 2 for 2 FT

21 Wilson, Drew……………….. 3 points, 1 steal, 1 for 1 3FG

18 Belyeu, Lex…………………… 2 points, 1 rebounds, 0 for 2 3FG

 

Attendance: 11

Start of Game – 9:30.  Total Elapsed Time – 54 minutes

Technicals: Espy

Officials: Wilson, Amirault, Deppen