Men's basketball suffers heartbreak on senior day
SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts - The American International College men's basketball team honored seniors Xion Golding, Jordan Vidal, Shyheim Hicks, and Walter Covington on Saturday, February 19. Covington tied the game on a three with three seconds left in overtime but the Setters took the Northeast-10 Conference game 82-81.
FAST FACTS:
Final Score: Pace 82, AIC 81 (F/OT)
Records: AIC drops to 6-20 (3-14 NE10) play, while Pace moves to 17-8 (12-5 NE10)
Location: Butova Gym Springfield, Massachusetts
KEY STATS:
AIC:
Frankyn Batista: 27 points, seven rebounds, two assists, two steals, two blocks
Walter Covington: 23 points, two rebounds
Xion Golding: seven points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists
Pace:
Brandon Jacobs: 18 points, three rebounds, three assists
Brandon Powell: 17 points, six rebounds
Bryon Powell: 13 points, 12 rebounds
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- The Yellow Jackets used an 11-2 run in the first two and a half minutes thanks in part to junior Walter Covington with eight and classmate Frankyn Batista with three. The Setters took their first lead of the game with 11:06 on the clock at 17-16. At the break, Pace led 33-30.
- AIC trailed 40-38 with 16:55 on the clock. Over a minute later Batista hit a turnaround jumper and the Yellow Jackets buzzed with confidence as they went on a 17-2 run over almost six minutes. During the run senior Shyheim Hicks had five points, while Batista, Covington, and sophomore Jalen Jordan each had four which gave AIC its largest lead of the night.
- With 1:47 remaining in regulation graduate Xion Golding gave AIC the 68-67 lead. Two possessions later, Batista threw down a powerful dunk to extend the AIC lead. Pace wasted no time as the Setters hit a three five seconds later to tie the game. AIC had the ball with 2.1 seconds left but was unable to connect on an alley-oop opportunity.
- Pace took a four-point lead in the first 70 seconds of the extra period. With 1:17 left in the frame, Jordan nailed a jumper to cut the AIC deficit to one. Brandon Jacobs of Pace was fouled while hitting a layup with 30 seconds to go and gave his team a three-point lead.
- Covington tipped in an offensive rebound on the other end and made it a one-point game. After a pair of made free throws by the Setters, Covington hit a huge three from the right-wing to bring it back within one.
- On the other end, the Setters missed the front end of a one-and-one but were able to get the offensive rebound and put it back up to take a three-point lead.
- With three seconds left Covington got the ball on the right wing, dribbled to the top of the key, and swished a three from the logo to tie the game with 2.2 seconds left.
- With no timeouts left the Setters got the ball and Austin Gilbertson put up a heave from the AIC three-point line which was off the mark but was fouled with .1 on the clock. Gilbertson went to the line and hit the first and missed the other two as the Setters took the game 82-81.
NEXT UP:
- The Yellow Jackets will return to action on Monday, February 21 at 7:30 p.m. when they travel to Albany, New York take on the College of Saint Rose.