Terrell Christian’s desperation heave for Boys Dem with three seconds left on the clock left the defending champion Hoyas coming up short, 70-67, in game one of their best-of-three New Breed Basketball Association summer league semifinals series at the Ronald Charles gymnasium on Monday.
Boys Dem had the ball with the game knotted at 67 and six seconds left on the clock. The Hoyas got the steal on the inbound pass but then had the ball knocked away. Both teams went after the loose ball but Christian picked it up and in one motion threw it at the basket.
The ball banged off of the backboard and through the net for the game winner as time expired. What a shot! The crowed, those for and against the winning team, exploded in appreciation for the exciting finish.
For Hoyas coach Sammie Lee, whose team had fought back from a nine-point deficit at the end of three quarters, it was a heartbreaker.
“All he had to do was hold on to the ball,” Sammie said, referring to his player who had gotten the steal off of Boys Dem inbound pass.
For Boys Dem coach Keith Swanston, he appreciated the victory but said his team seems to do everything the hard way. “Sometimes they just don’t listen. You tell them to do one thing and they do another,” Swanston said. “We had them down by nine points and let them back into the game because we would not play team defense. We need to play team defense,” he concluded.
Boys Dem were led offensively by Amerdius Derweer, who finished with a game high 18 points while grabbing seven rebounds. Wilson Ferrance also had 12 for winners. Rasheed Swanston had 10 and point guard Kadeem Jones finished with 10 points and a game high six assists.
Usually a prolific scorer, Christian only had eight points for the game but came up huge on that last-minute, game-winning three-pointer.
It was a tough loss for the defending champions, but they have been down in a series before and will look for the equalizer on Wednesday.
In the night’s other game, Guidance had five players in double figures en route to a 71-64 victory over Lakers. Raydell Dennis led the winners with game-highs in points and rebounds. He scored 14 points while dominating the boards by pulling down 22 rebounds.
Dennis got good support from Jerome Nathaniel, who had a great all-round game with 10 points, 10 boards and eight assists. Also chipping in for Guidance were Jamari Maduro, Ryan Rawlins and Charles Sealy who finished with 12, 11, and 10 points respectively.
The Lakers only had one player in double figures, Raheem Huggins, but they got points from almost the whole team.
