By By BRUCE HIXON – Sports Editor
Ask any coach and they will all say the same thing. They will take an ugly win over a pretty loss anytime.
That is especially true for teams that have dropped six games in a row such as the Jefferson Davis Community College Warhawks, who got back on the right track Tuesday with a 59-56 win over the visiting Wallace State-Selma Patriots.
It was the first win for the Warhawks (1-2 in the Alabama Community College south division and 5-9 overall) since they beat the Huntingdon JV back on December 1.
JDCC fought an uphill battle nearly the entire game against a Wallace State-Selma team that came into the game with a 1-10 record. The Warhawks trailed most of the game, which included a game high nine-point deficit halfway through the second half. The Warhawks did not grab the lead for good until there were less than three minutes left.
One such individual was sophomore Arthur Richardson, who tallied 15 of his 19 points in the second half. Another key contributor was freshman Jeremy Cleveland, who wiped out most of the Patriots lead with a pair of buckets and two free throws to go along with a key steal on defense.
The Warhawks got caught up in Wallace State-Selma's slow tempo in the first half. The Patriots were content to work the shot clock way down on most possessions.
While the tempo limited possessions, JDCC did have one stretch where a fastbreak bucket by Terren Spann, a three-pointer by Jairus Jackson and an offensive rebound bucket by Kedric Wilson gave the Warhawks a 12-11 lead with eight minutes left in the first half.
That was really the only surge JDCC had in the first half. The Patriots scored eight of the next 10 points to open up a 19-14 lead and still led 21-19 at halftime.
While an offensive rebound bucket by Richardson 10 seconds into the second half tied the game at 21-21, the Patriots got a pair of buckets and two free throws by Trey Williams during an 8-0 run over the next two minutes to take a 29-21 lead.
The Warhawks battled back and tied the game again at 31-31 on Micaiah Anthony's free throw with 13:30 left, but it was not long before Wallace State- Selma was back in the driver's seat.
A key three-point play by Williams sparked an 11-2 run over the next three minutes that gave the Patriots a game high nine-point lead of 42-33.That lead was still 44-36 with nine minutes left and 46-39 with just over five minutes left when the Warhawks made their move.
A pair of free throws by Wilson followed by two buckets and two free throws by Cleveland brought JDCC to within 48-47 with 3:22 left.
Two free throws by Wilson with 2:50 left put JDCC in front for the first time since early in the game 49-48. Over the next 100 seconds JDCC got two more free throws by Wilson, a basket by Richardson off a steal by Cleveland and a steal and layup by Jackson that extended the lead to 55-48 with 1:14 left.
Just when it looked as if the Patriots had been put away, they battled back. A three-pointer by LaQuincy Landrum, a hoop by Williams and an NBA distance three-pointer by Brandon Thomas cut the lead to just 58-56 with :03.6 left.
The Warhawks got the clock down to :01.1 on the inbounds pass before Jackson could be fouled. Jackson made it a three-point lead when he hit one of two attempts, but the Patriots were unable to even get a desperation three-point attempt off before time expired.
The Warhawks, who hosted Southern Union Saturday, play back-to-back road games at Ozark-Enterprise Monday and at Faulkner State Tuesday.
At JDCC
Wallace State-Selma 21 35 – 56
JDCC 19 40 – 59
WALLACE STATE-SELMA (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Williams 6-0-5-17; Thomas 6-1-1-16; Landrum 4-1-0-11; D. Allen 1-0-3-5; Frazier 0-0-3-3; Witherspoon 1-0-0-2; W. Allen 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 19-2-12-56)
JDCC (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Richardson 5-2-3-19; Jackson 3-1-4-13; Wilson 2-1-5-12; Cleveland 3-0-3-9; McMullen 0-0-2-2; Butler 0-0-1-1; Anthony 0-0-1-1 (Totals: 14-4-19-59)