Senators hold off Bristol Prep, win 100-89

With the lead they had held all game dwindling, the Walters State men's basketball team needed a spark against Bristol Prep on Tuesday night in the second half.

WSCC's lead had been 15 at one point, but a quick start to the half cut it to five with 15 minutes remaining.

But just as it looked like the Avengers would take over, Kobe Powell and Demarius Boyd woke up.

Powell and Boyd scored eight of the next 10 points for the Senators and created turnover after turnover as Walters State pulled away, winning 100-89 at 'Z' Buda Gymnasium.  Boyd had a double-double in the game with 18 points and 10 rebounds. He also had six assists.

"I am happy with a win," coach Bill Carlyle said. "It wasn't pretty, but it was a win. When you play someone out of conference, it's hard to get one. I tried to play everyone. In a game like this, you try and give everyone and opportunity to play."

It was an offensive explosion early on for the Senators (5-3) with Boyd leading the charge. He had seven points in the first four minutes of the game and three assists. Two of his assists came on alley-oops, one to Anthony Jones and the other to Paris Taylor.

Walters State, with their starters in, built up an 11-point lead, but the bench struggled to maintain the offensive firepower the starting five. Up 26-15, the Senators went on a cold stretch, failing to score for four minutes. That allowed the Avengers to cut the lead to four.

However, a Tyler Arnold three broke the stall and, with the majority of the starting lineup back in the game, WSCC brought the lead back up to 11.

Bristol Prep made a run to end the half and had the Walters State lead down to single digits, but an alley-oop to Darius Allen put the Senators ahead 51-41 at the half.

While the offense was good in the half, the defense struggled at times with the Avengers' Mark Vance piling on 19 points in the first 20 minutes and 27 in the game.

"I wasn't happy with the way we executed," Carlyle said. "When we play somebody that can really play, we're going to need to do a lot better than that to win. But a win is a win and we'll move on from here."

Boyd came out firing to start the second with four quick points. But it was the Avengers who took control, cutting the lead to five just four minutes into the half.

Boyd who hit an and-one and the spark was all Walters State needed as Powell made two straight fast break layups before a Jones dunk that left the rim shaking gave WSCC a 12-point lead and forced a Bristol Prep timeout.

With Powell and Boyd in the game, the Senators swarmed the Avengers on both sides of the ball, creating turnovers and fast break points as if they had been playing together for years.

"Boyd I thought played pretty well tonight," Carlyle said. "Kobe played his best game he's played so far. Kobe came in and did a really nice job for us."

It was cruise control for Walters State the rest of the way. Boyd and Machado led the team with 18 points each while Jones had a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

NEXT UP

Walters State will be back in action on Friday as they take part in the Wallace State Tournament in Hanceville, Ala. They'll take on Bevill State on Friday at 7 p.m. and Wallace State Saturday at 2 p.m.