LOCAL BASKETBALL ROUNDUP: Albany State men top Georgia Southwestern

ALBANY — With the under a minute left and the shot clock about to expire, Davetom Odom pulled up from about two feet behind the 3-point line and calmly sank the shot to put Albany State up seven over Georgia Southwestern Saturday night.

That shot was not only the last made basket of the game, but the nail in the Hurricanes’ coffin as ASU went on to win 69-62 at the HPER Gym.

That particular play was indicative of the how the Rams played all night; calm under pressure and coming through in the clutch.

“I like this team’s chemistry, I like the character and they just believe … they expect to win,” ASU interim head coach Michael Moore said about his team’s poise down the stretch.

After their thrilling home opener, Moore referred to HPER gym as “The House of No Return.” He added that great teams take care of business and refuse to lose in front of the home crowd.

So far, the Rams look like a great team as Saturday night’s win improved their record to 3-2 on the season and 2-0 at home.

The Hurricanes took a 15-13 lead with 12 minutes left in the first half. The Rams would put together a 20-7 run to take a 35-22 lead at the half.

The Rams were just as efficient offensively in that period as they were defensively, shooting 53.8 percent from the field, while holding the Hurricanes to just 27.6 percent. ASU went up by as much as 12 in the second half before Georgia Southwestern came clawing back. While they had their double-digit lead whittled away, Moore believed that his team executed well defensively.

“The scouting report was that they weren’t really a good inside or driving team, they put up a lot of 3-pointers,” he said. “So what we did was closed out on the 3-point shooters and forced them to put it on the floor…we stuck to our keys, denied the 3-point shooters, close out on shooters and forced them to put it on the floor. ”

Odom finished with a game high 28 points, followed by Larry Bullock with 17. The Rams finished shooting 50 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from behind the arc. Moore said this could be attributed to having this past week off.

“Anytime you can get practice in, you’re able to add a little bit more,” Moore said. “You’re able to get in more shooting time, which we did. And the guys were able to rest and that’s valuable in the game of basketball nowadays…we had a good week where the guys got their legs underneath them and they shot good strong looking shots tonight.”

The Rams will travel this Tuesday for a rematch against Georgia College & State University at 7 p.m.

DARTON WOMEN 54, SANTA FE 52: Darton trailed by seven points with three minutes left against Santa Fe Community College on Saturday in the South Georgia Tech Classic in Americus but rallied for a two-point victory.

Despite leading scorer Shanea Armbrister playing just six minutes after suffering from what appeared to be a pulled hamstring, the Lady Cavaliers remained unbeaten and improved to 7-0 on the season.

Tamarah Fisher led Darton with 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Tyeshia Smith finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds. The Lady Cavaliers will meet Cape Fear at 2 p.m. today in the final day of the South Georgia Tech Classic.