BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Villa Maria College men's basketball team hosted Jamestown Community College on Sunday and it was a competitive game that went down to the final seconds of regulation. The Vikings had some missed opportunities down the stretch and fell by a final score of 78-73. With the loss, Villa's record sits at 1-8, while the Jayhawks move to 2-3 on the year.
The opening two minutes were scoreless for both teams, but
Nolan Shephard kicked it off by drawing a foul and knocking down both free-throws. The largest deficit the Vikings faced was six points at the 13:07 mark, but they quickly closed it out with mid-range jump-shot by
Master Radford and three-pointer by
Tim Payne. A fast break
Jeriah Williams dunk gave the team a 15-14 lead with 10:41 to play in the first half. The team ended the half in a strong way, outscoring the Jayhawks 12-4 in the final 5:37.
Jaylin Rose and
Kevin Goode each converted two free-throws to start the run and then after a
Juwan Beale jumper, Radford dunked the ball to cut the deficit to just one.
Bersy Moundzieho made a fast break layup to give the team an advantage and Beale pushed the score to 34-31 in favor of Villa going into halftime.
Shephard started the second frame with a layup, but Jamestown started an 8-0 run to go ahead by three points on Villa. The run was disrupted by a personal foul and technical foul that allowed Beale to make four straight free-throws and put the team up one point. The two units began trading buckets and leads, until the 14:12 mark when the Vikings began an impressive run. Goode knocked down a three to put the team ahead by two and then after a
Trent Cordone layup, Payne made two lay ins of his own. Williams grew the advantage to double digits with a three-pointer with 11:58 on the clock. The struggles began after that run, as Villa scored one point in the next seven minutes. The offense woke up to stop the bleeding, starting with another Radford dunk. The teams once again exchanged makes, and the Vikings were able to pull to within one on multiple occasions, but were unable to close the game out. When the clock hit zero, Villa lost by a final score of 78-73.
Beale finished the day with 19 points and eight rebounds, while shooting 9-for-9 from the free-throw line. Goode added 14 points of his own, while dishing out five assists and collecting five rebounds.
Up next is a road match up against Bryant and Stratton-Rochester. The 7 p.m. matchup will be the first of a stretch of games that will see the Vikings play four of the final five games away from home.
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