Serigne Athj scored 19 pts, including the game-winning free throws with 7.0 seconds left, and blocked a shot with 1.2 seconds left to help preserve the win for Glendale Tuesday evening in Woodland Hills.
Glendale (2-2) rallied from a 13-point second-half deficit and trailed by 4 with under 40 seconds before pulling out the dramatic victory over LA Pierce in the Brahmas' season opener. The Vaqueros fell behind as big man Anjge-Michel "Freddy" Kuo sat out much of the first half in foul trouble.
Pierce (0-1) took an 10-8 lead with 15:40 left in the first half on a 3-point play by Dakota Abbott. It was the Brahmas' first lead of the game, but more importantly, it was Kuo's second foul of the game, and he went to the bench for the rest of the first half.
And Pierce took advantage of his absence. Jordan Newt scored on a driving lay-up with 2:50 left in the first half to cap an 11-1 run and give the Brahmas a 35-25 lead. The margin was 9 at the half with the Brahmas holding a 38-29 advantage.
Pierce extended its lead to 13 points early in the second half when Anthony Suber scored off an inbounds pass from Kelton Conway, making it 44-31 with just under 18 minutes left. The Brahmas led, 49-36, a bit later after a 3-pointer by John Flowers.
Glendale battled back to take a 59-58 lead on a 3-pointer by Dominic Gully wit just over 6 minutes left, and extended the lead when Gully stole the ball back moments later and fed Athj for a slam dunk that made it 61-58.
Pierce answered that Vaquero rally with a comeback of its own, re-taking the lead on a short jumper by Wayne Currie with 4:45 to go. The lead changed hands three more times before Currie made a Curry-esque 3-pointer off the bounce to give Pierce a 67-65 advantage with 3:04 left. Suber scored off another inbounds pass - this one from Newt - to push the Brahma lead to 69-65.
That's where things stood until Kuo scored for Glendale off a pass from Jordan Matthews with 37.2 seconds left to make it 69-67. Then, after a timeout, the Vaquero press generated a turnover when Hollinger stole the inbounds pass, which led to Athj tying the score with two free throws with 32 seconds left.
Pierce ran a deliberate offense as the clock wound down, but Chris Johnson drove towards the basket with about 10 seconds left and missed. Athj got the rebound and, incredibly, was fouled by Conway near midcourt with 7.0 seconds left. With Glendale already in the bonus, Athj calmly sank two more free throws that gave the Vaqueros a 71-69 lead.
After a timeout, Conway brought the ball up the court and tried to atone for his ill-timed foul by driving towards the basket. But his would-be game-tying shot was swatted away by Athj, with the ball going out of bounds. With 1.2 seconds left, Pierce had one last shot but Currie's fall-away 3-pointer from the corner bounced off the backboard as time ran out.
Athj led all scorers with his 19 pts, and he also had 8 rebs, 2 asts, 2 blocks and 2 steals. Kuo had a double-double with 17 pts and a game-high 13 rebs, adding 2 asts and 3 blocks despite sitting out the final 15:40 of the first half because of the fouls. Matthews had 16 pts, 6 rebs, 4 asts, a block and a steal.
For Pierce, Suber had 10 pts and was the only starter to reach double figures. Newt had 10 pts, all in the first half, plus 4 rebs and a game-high 6 asts. Currie came off the bench for 10 pts, including a pair of threes. Conway had 5 pts, 5 asts and a game-high 4 steals.
box score
Tuesday, November 15, 2016 - 6 pm
at the Brahma-Dome, Woodland Hills
WSC Crossover game
Glendale Vaqueros 71:
10-Dominic Gully, PG - 3/8 fg, 2/2 ft, 2 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 2 pf, 8 pts
12-Jordan Matthews, SF - 7/15 fg, 2/4 ft, 6 reb, 4 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 2 pf, 16 pts
24-Serigne Athj, SG - 5/13 fg, 8/9 ft, 8 reb, 2 ast, 2 blk, 2 stl, 2 pf, 19 pts
40-Frank Irowa, PF - 1/4 fg, 5 reb, 2 pts
45-Anjge-Michel Kuo, C - 6/12 fg, 5/6 ft, 13 reb, 2 ast, 3 blk, 4 pf, 17 pts
22-Denzel Nwanguma, G - 2/4 fg, 2/2 ft, 2 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl, 4 pf, 6 pts
35-Adem Osmanovic, F - 1/2 ft, 1 reb, 1 blk, 1 pf, 1 pt
33-Richard Hollinger Jr., F - 1/3 fg, 0/1 ft, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 2 pts
20-Arin Ovanessian, G - 0/1 fg, 3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 0 pts
21-Jarrod Molnar, F - 1 blk, 0 pts
team rebounds: 4
Totals: 25/60 fg (.417), 18/24 ft (.750), 46 reb, 15 ast, 8 blk, 10 stl, 15 pf, 71 pts
3-pt fg (3): Gully 2, Athj
Technical Foul: Matthews
Turnovers (22): Athj 5, Matthews 4, Nwanguma 3, Kuo 2, Osmanovic 2, Ovanessian 2, Gully, Irowa, Hollinger, team
Pierce Brahmas 69:
3-Kelton Conway, PG - 1/6 fg, 2/2 ft, 2 reb, 5 ast, 4 stl, 3 pf, 5 pts
5-Dakota Abbott, SG - 2/5 fg, 3/3 ft, 4 reb, 1 blk, 2 pf, 7 pts
11-John Flowers, SF - 2/5 fg, 1/1 ft, 3 reb, 2 ast, 6 pts
20-Anthony Suber, C - 5/8 fg, 3 reb, 1 stl, 3 pf, 10 pts
23-Chris Johnson, PF - 3/6 fg, 0/1 ft, 4 reb, 1 ast, 3 blk, 4 pf, 6 pts
22-Brandon White, F - 0/1 fg, 3/4 ft, 3 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl, 4 pf, 3 pts
2-Malik Johnson, F - 2/6 fg, 2 reb, 2 pf, 5 pts
4-Jordan Newt, G - 3/8 fg, 2/4 ft, 4 reb, 6 ast, 1 pf, 10 pts
25-Samuel OJ Ojeriakhi, F - 2/3 fg, 1/2 ft, 2 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl, 2 pf, 5 pts
10-Wayne Currie, G - 4/13 fg, 2 reb, 1 blk, 10 pts
1-Iseah Rodgers, G - 1/3 fg, 2 stl, 1 pf, 2 pts
team rebounds: 4
Totals: 25/64 fg (.391), 12/17 ft (.706), 33 reb, 16 ast, 5 blk, 1 stl, 22 pf, 69 pts
3-pt fg (7): Newt 2, Currie 2, Conway, Flowers, M.Johnson
Turnovers (20): Conway 4, Abbott 3, C.Johnson 3, Rodgerrs 3, White 2, Newt 2, Suber, M.Johnson, Currie
Halftime Score: LA Pierce 38, Glendale 29
Updated Records: Glendale 2-2, LA Pierce 0-1
Pierce led by 13 at 44-31 and 49-36 early in the 2nd half and by 4 with less than 40 secs left
Glendale tied it on 2 FTs by Athj with 32.0 secs left after a Hollinger steal.
Athj made 2 FTs with 7.0 secs left to give Glendale a 71-69 lead, and he blocked a Conway shot with 1.2 secs left to help secure the win for the Vaqueros.
