Flight Foil Lowgators in Double OT
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C., Dec. 28 -- Shelly Clark scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Huntsville to a 94-89 double-overtime victory over North Charleston on Friday at the North Charleston Coliseum.
The victory snapped a seven-game losing skid for Huntsville and improved the Flight to 6-12. North Charleston dipped to 14-7 with its fifth consecutive home loss.
"Between North Charleston and Columbus we must have already played eight overtime periods this season," Huntsville coach Bob Thornton said. "That shows how well we match up.
"One of our biggest problems during our slide was not being able to hold a lead. We would get ahead and then have a lapse," Thornton said. "We played a full basketball game tonight for the first time in a long time."
The scored was tied at 69 at the end of regulation, taking the Lowgators and Flight to a second straight overtime game. North Charleston defeated the flight 85-75 in overtime Dec. 18 in Huntsville.
Both teams had a chance to win as time wound down in the first overtime, but Sedric Webber missed a 26-foot jumper for the Lowgators with 19 seconds left and Jimmie Hunter a 28-footer as the period expired and the score knotted at 80.
Huntsville stretched the lead to four with a minute left in the second overtime before Lonnie Harrell and Hunter nailed down the victory by hitting two free throws each in the last 13 seconds.
"That was a tough loss. We could have won with a call or a made shot here or there," Lowgators head coach Alex English said. "It took awhile to get our energy going, but sometimes that's the way basketball goes.
"Hopefully we can go on this road trip and turn things around. We seem to play better on the road than at home," English said. "Maybe we can get a couple of wins and come home with a new attitude."
Clark led five Huntsville scorers in double figures. Hunter had 20, followed by Harrell with 16. Tyrone Ellis and Kelvin Price chipped in 13 apiece.
Webber had 19 points to lead the Lowgators. Fred House recorded a double-double for North Charleston by scoring 18 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Galen Young had 15 points and Tess Whitlock 12 for the Lowgators. Makhtar N'Diaye collected a game-high 17 rebounds and blocked three shots.
