Spring Hill wins thriller over Albany State

ALBANY — Jayson Snearl sat near midcourt, hardly believing what had just happened.

Khaliq Hughes quietly sat outside the dressing room.

Michael Green stood up against the wall, his jersey covering his head.

After Spring Hill’s go-ahead bucket with 2.4 seconds remaining, the Badgers stunned Albany State 66-65 Saturday afternoon at the HPER Gymnasium, sending the Rams (7-8 overall, 2-3 SIAC) to their second straight loss.

It wasn’t just a loss, it was how this one ended that Rams players say will burn for a little while.

“It does,” ASU’s Devontay Ward said. “But we all have to stick together at the end of the day and hold each other accountable. We’ve got to come back and get to work for Monday.”

Albany State will play host to Clark-Atlanta Monday night at the HPER Gymnasium with a chance to put aside two bitter losses. ASU suffered a late 74-68 setback to Lane College Thursday night.

The Rams held leads as high as 11 late in the second half before Spring Hill trimmed the deficit to within striking distance. They pulled to 61-60 with 1:31 left before free throws from Juwan High and Green pushed the Rams’ lead to 64-60 with 51 seconds remaining.

But the Badgers sank a jumper to pull to within two with 6.2 seconds left.

Albany State, trying to finish strong, killed itself on its ensuing possession. Green, inbounding the ball, launched a deep pass intended for Hughes. The ball sailed over the guard’s head and out of bounds, taking no time off the clock.

That set the stage for Spring Hill’s dramatic finish.

After Brandon Fischer missed a wide open 3-pointer, the Badgers got another crack when ASU knocked the ball out of bounds.

On the inbounds play, Fischer caught a soft pass, took a step and banked in the game-winner. While the Rams hoped for a traveling call, Albany State’s desperation heave as time expired failed.

ASU coach Michael Moore said the game should have never come down to the last-second basket.

“We missed a lot of chippy shots around the basket that we should have made to extend our lead,” Moore said.

Before the final minutes, it was a fun game that Albany State led for most of the time. Green drilled a 3-pointer at the end of the first half to give the Rams a 39-33 advantage, then he started the second half with a perfectly executed pass that Hughes converted into an alley-oop dunk.

But Albany State never imagined its earlier success would end in heartbreak, especially the way they controlled the tempo.

Green led the team with 17 points, while Ward added 13. Hughes finished with nine, while High and Randy McClure added seven points apiece.

The Rams lost just 12 turnovers and played well enough to win. Moore said his young team will learn from the experience.

“We’re a young team still trying to find a way to close out games,” he said. “We’re going to grown from this. We’ll be all right.”