Wesleyan suffers heartbreaker in USA South semifinals, 83-81

Newport News, VA - The Bishop men's basketball team of North Carolina Wesleyan saw its 2007-08 season come to a heartbreaking end on Friday night, falling to Greensboro College by an 83-81 score in the semifinals of the USA South Tournament. Leading 81-80 with 26 seconds remaining, Wesleyan saw its fourth straight game be decided inside of three seconds when the Pride's RJ Smith drained a three-pointer from the corner with one tick left on the clock. The Bishops finish the season with a 12-15 overall record and say farewell to seniors Lenny Hall and Jarvis Cobb.

Wesleyan's first 24 points of the contest came via the three-pointer as Trey Drake and Jarmel Arrington came out on fire. Two free throws by Hall at the 8:51 mark gave the Bishops their first points from elsewhere and secured their biggest lead of the half at 26-17.

The ensuing 8-0 run by the Pride cut the lead to one, and a Jason Sharpe lay-up with 4:57 remaining tied the game at 28-28. Hall and Cobb, however, answered for the Bishops by combining to score 11 points over the final four minutes of the period. Wesleyan held a 41-34 lead at the break.

In the second half, it took Greensboro just five minutes to force the contest's third tie at 48-48. The next 12 minutes would feature seven more ties, the final coming at 74-74 with 3:31 left in regulation.

The Pride looked to take control as they put together a 6-0 run to go up 80-74, but the Bishops would not go down without a fight. Drake began the rally with his sixth three-pointer of the game at the 1:47 mark. Two Arrington free throws with 58 seconds left cut the lead to one, and two Adam Coleman free throws with 26 ticks left gave the Bishops an 81-80 advantage.

Greensboro's Adam Nicholson then held the ball for the game's last shot. After he was forced to pick up his dribble behind the arc, he dished the ball to Smith in the corner, who drained the eventual game-winner with one second left. The Bishops did manage to get a great look for the tie when Coleman received a long pass from the baseline and took a 12-foot jumper. Unfortunately, the ball bounced off the rim and backboard before falling to the floor.

For Greensboro, six players reached double figures led by Smith's 19. The Pride shot 47 percent from the floor to the Bishops' 36 percent, but Wesleyan made up the difference with its 15 treys.

Arrington led all scorers with a game-high 35 points and seven three-pointers. Drake added 20 and knocked down all six of his attempts from downtown. Hall, the Bishops all-time leading scorer, chipped in 13 in the final game of this career and finishes with 1,981.
 

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