Written by: Danny Talbert
The Panthers fight to the end to secure a CCS win over the Huntingdon Hawks (Jan. 20).
First half details
Coming off a week-long break from competition, both team's offenses started off a bit rusty. The visiting Hawks scored the first points of today, but the Panthers were able to secure a tight 11-6 lead with the help of a Jace Herrell three. Kameron McCall had the LC fans on their feet when he made a quick move by his defender and scored a contested two. The freshman guard has been explosive on offense all season. Over the next few minutes, the Panthers were able to extend their lead to 21-11 after knocking down back-to-back threes. With five minutes left in the half, Ford Barnes made one of the best defensive plays of the season for the Panthers. The sophomore successfully split himself between his man and the Hawks fast breaking guard. When the Hawks player passed the ball to Barnes's man, the big-man was able to close the distance and stuff the Hawks shot. Huntingdon would go on to chip down the LC lead for the rest of the half, but the Panthers still led at the break 45-34.
As a team, the Panthers shot 36% from the field and 32% from three in the first half. Shaun Nichols had a team-high nine points, shooting 43% from the field and 67% from beyond the arc.
Second half details
The Panthers began the second half hot with a Samuel Moss bank shot three. Both teams, especially the Hawks, came out of the break playing a run and gun style of offense. At this point in the game, LC's offense seemed to have all the answers for the visiting Hawks. Each time the Hawks scored, the Panthers would respond with points. With just 12 minutes left, LC led 70-55. Out of the media time-out, the Hawks hit back-to-back threes to cut LC's lead to 72-61. The Hawks would continue their run of scoring until they were down just 76-71 with seven minutes left. Out of the time-out, Samuel Moss had the Panther crowd on their feet when he hit a contested layup and got the and-one call. You could feel the energy in the packed Mariotti Gym and the crowd was fully invested until the very last whistle. Camerin Lyons created some noise when he made a fantastic late-game play. The guard crashed the boards, grabbed the LC rebound and scored two to extend the tight Panther lead. LC would do just enough as a team to hold on to win 100-96 against the Hawks.
Top Panther performance
Despite starting off slow, Samuel Moss had a phenomenal second half. The Georgia native scored a team-high 24 points, shooting 60% from the field and 29% beyond the arc. He also had three rebounds, a steal and a block.
Next game details
The team stays home to take on Belhaven this Wednesday (Jan. 24), at 7:00 p.m. The game follows the 5:30 p.m. women's game against the Blazers.
