The Dallas College Brookhaven Campus men’s basketball team battled in a close game against the North Lake Blazers but failed to close out the game as the Blazers hit some key free throws toward the end. The away game on Feb. 24 ended in an 83-81 loss for the Bears.
Brookhaven won the tip-off and scored the first three points of the game. Both teams played a tough, defensive game.
Early in the game, forward Jackson Lino attacked the post and scored tough layup finishes. Along with guard Terrell Palmer, Lino gave the Bears a small 4-point lead, as the Blazers called for their first timeout of the game.
The Blazers took a small lead with a 3-point jump shot and a few free throws as the score was 29-25 with nine minutes left in the half.
Shortly after, the Bears’ guard Zach Gomez hit an important 3-pointer to give the Bears the lead back. After a few crucial steals by Gomez and Palmer, allowed the Bears to keep up with the scoring from the Blazers.
Ending a competitive half, the Blazers kept a small lead 46-44.
Five minutes into the second half, the referee called a technical foul on the Bears, giving the Blazers two free throws.
Chris McGill, head basketball coach, said after the game: “We got a technical on the book – that’s a bad thing. Someone wasn’t in the book and that’s the coaching staff’s fault.”
In the second half Palmer and guard Aaron Ovalle kept the score tied, knocking down crucial 3-pointers as the Bears and the Blazers continued to trade 3-point shots.
The game continued with more attacks to the rims and slowly turned into both teams kicking out – passing out of a drive to the basket – to find open players to shoot a 3-pointer. The Bears called a timeout to regroup as the game was coming to crunch time. The Blazers held the lead 69-65.
The Blazers received a defensive foul giving the Bears two free throws. The Bears knocked down both free throws cutting the Blazers lead to 2 points. A bit later Lino tied the game 74-74 with four minutes left.
With the game tied at 80 points and one minute left, the Blazers took the lead with two free throws made with 21 seconds left. The Bears committed a foul in a last attempt to possess the ball and gave the Blazers two last free throws. They missed one, but the Blazers still led by two points.
The Bears had the last possession of the game and needed two points to tie the game or a 3-pointer for the win. They were not able to convert a shot as guard Curtis Moffett took an off-balance shot with time running out. The final score was 83-81. McGill said: “We just came short two free throws from the technical. That’s what burns because it’s a tie ballgame and we’re going into overtime.”
The Bears took this loss as a learning experience, but they had to move on and keep their eyes looking forward to the conference tournament. Ovalle said, “This game really showed our potential.”
Moffett said, “We just got to knock down those free throws and limit our turnovers moving forward and we will be good.”
The Brookhaven Bears played the Mountain View Lions in the quarterfinal game of the NJCAA Division III South Central District on Feb. 27 at Eastfield Campus. Brookhaven ultimately lost the game 107-100 ending their season.
