It was a game about momentum swings.
That is best to easily define the DSLCC Roadrunners basketball game on Monday night against the Ferrum Panthers.
It was only a few weeks ago, on December 2, where at the same building of Ferrum College, the Panthers handed the Roadrunners their biggest loss of the season by 34 points.
The loss for the Roadrunners at that time, snapped the teams four game winning streak.
On Monday, as the Roadrunners went back to the same building where their previous winning streak ended, the team brought in another winning streak. This time of five games.
The outcome, unfortunately for the Roadrunners, was the same.
However, it wasn’t a 30-point loss for the Roadrunners. The Panthers had to earn this one as they defeated the Roadrunners 69-62.
This team compared to the one that played the Panthers the first time, was completely different. Different in a sense of the play on the court and not their roster.
This was a Roadrunners team that had beaten four of their previous five teams by double digits.
It was also a team led by the trio of Jaylen Hudson, Tre McCrary, and Noryen Lasley, who have combined to score 60-65% of the teams points.
As the Roadrunners second winning streak came to an end, it was on this night on Monday, that their momentum swing, came a bit too soon as the team struggled to make shots down the stretch.
Had the first ten minutes of the game been the only minutes, the Roadrunners would of walked away with a victory.
In the first part of the first half, the Roadrunners looked like the team that had been dominating during their five-game winning streak. The team started the game off hot with an 8-0 lead thanks to back to back three-pointers from Hudson and Dayshawn Hamilton.
The Panthers crept into the deficit at 13-7 by going on a 7-3 scoring run.
But then McCrary knocked down a three-pointer to give the Roadrunners their biggest lead of the game at nine points, 16-7.
When you see a team a second time, you get to know them a little better, but the Panthers were not expecting this from the Roadrunners. Not after their 30-point victory over them the last time out.
After the Roadrunners went up nine points, the Panthers picked up the pace and went on an 11-0 scoring run to take their first lead of the game at 26-18.
Lasley snapped their scoring drought for the Roadrunners with a jumper that cut the deficit down to six points at 26-20.
And then the Panthers used another scoring momentum by grabbing an 8-0 run to put the team up 14 points at 34-20.
By the end of the first half, the Roadrunners trailed the Panthers 37-24.
In the closing minutes of the first trailing 34-22, the Roadrunners had a handful of chance to get within single digits, but could not get their shots to drop.
It was all about the momentum swing which favored the Panthers to close the first half.
In the second half, repeat the exact thing from the first half.
Despite trailing by 13 points going into the second half, the Roadrunners did not drop their heads. The team fought hard to get back in the game.
Trailing 40-26, the Roadrunners used an 8-0 scoring run to get back within six points at 40-34.
Hamilton had knocked down back to back three-pointers and Lasley found McCrary open as he cut to the basket to make the layup.
Momentum was starting to shift for the Roadrunners favor.
It was a seven point game at 41-34 when the Roadrunners grabbed a big 12-0 scoring run to take a 46-41 lead. It was the first lead for the Roadrunners since the first part of the first half when they led 18-17.
During the 12-0 scoring run for the Roadrunners, Lasley had a fast break dunk that cut the lead to three points and Hudson made a layup to put the team back in front at 42-41.
Once again though, there was a shift change.
The Panthers used a 9-4 scoring run to tie the game at 50-50.
With just over six minutes left in the game McCrary knocked down a three-pointer to give the Roadrunners the lead right back at 53-50.
McCrary then followed with a tough layup that put the team up five points.
After a made Hudson jumper, the Roadrunners were up six points with under six minutes left in the game.
Six minutes can be a lifetime in sports and especially with the way the game was going for scoring momentums, we were about to see another.
Not phased by their deficit late in the game, the Panthers scored 11 answered points to take a five point lead at 62-57.
Lasley ended the scoring run by making a difficult layup.
The Panthers followed the made basket by Lasley, by knocking down a three-pointer to give the team a six point lead which was their largest since the beginning of the second half.
The Roadrunners could not get back within striking distance after that as the team could not knock down anymore baskets during the moment shift that went to the Panthers.
As the game wound down and trailing by nine points, K’knowledge Rawlings knocked down a three-pointer for the Roadrunners to cut the lead down to six points with just seconds remaining.
The trio of Hudson, Lasley, and McCrary, finished the game with 44 points as McCrary finished with a team-high 20 points. Lasley had a team-high 10 rebounds in the loss while Hudson finished with a team high in assists with six.
Not to be overlooked, Hamilton chipped in with nine points while playing 35 of the 40 minutes.
It was a tough loss for the Roadrunners who battled hard and left it all out on the basketball court.
The team led big, trailed even bigger, and fought their way back into the game while even taking the lead late in the game.
This Roadrunners team is strong and this loss will only help them grow as a team.
The last time the Panthers beat the Roadrunners, it did end their winning streak, but it also started a new one the following game for the Roadrunners.
Head coach Brandon Garrett and his coaching staff is doing a tremendous job with their group and the team will rebound much like they have a couple times already this season.
The team heads into their holiday break with a 9-3 record, but will not be back on the basketball court until the next year on January 7, 2022 when the team hosts Sandhills Community College at 5:00 p.m.
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