The Skyhawks pulled off a major upset when they beat the Racers 69-68.
It seemed as if the Racers thought they had the game in the bag but the Skyhawks were desperate to win. After the Jan. 3 loss, the Skyhawks knew they were going to have to pull out some magic to win the game.
The beginning of the game was rough. The Skyhawks had five fouls within the first six minutes of the game. Even though they were having a hard time, they were in the lead.
“I’m just really proud of our guys. We went in with a game plan and we stuck to it. We knew it’d be hard to stop them. We stayed consist and we fought hard,” said Coach James.
The Skyhawks fought hard. The Racers were gunning for Myles Taylor under the basket and Mike Liabo out behind the 3-point line. They knew the two were two of the major scorers on the Skyhawk bench and did what they could to keep them for scoring. It worked for Taylor, but Liabo would just take shots and made most of them.
Out of the starting lineup, Terence Smith and Khristian Taylor worked well to keep the ball from Racer hands. Khristian Taylor, who hasn’t played much this season, stepped up and showed why he is a Skyhawk.
“Everybody answered the bell, “ said James. “They answered when their number was called. They did what they were supposed to do.”
Normally the team will get mad at each other and fight amongst themselves. This didn’t happen. They knew they were in for a huge fight to win and stuck together as a team. Tempers did come out, but they were left in the huddle when play resumed. The entire team was engaged and ready to play.
“When our team’s engaged and sticking together, we’re all right,” said James.
It was a tense game. The Skyhawks led up to the final moment. At the end of the game, the Racers made an amazing comeback, but the Skyhawks held on. Leading scorer for the Racers Isaiah Canaan tried to hit a last-minute three as the buzzer sounded, but it went wide and hit the backboard. The Skyhawks had won against Murray State 69-68.
The leading scorer for the game was Mike Liabo with 20 points, two rebounds and one assist. Runner up was Myles Taylor with 15 point, three rebounds, two assists and two steals. Justin Childs and Terence Smith tied with nine points. Childs finished with a team high of six rebounds, two steals and one assist. Smith had three rebounds and one steal.
The Skyhawks return to action for the final time in regular season play against Austin Peay. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. To follow the game, follow The Pacer on Facebook and Twitter, @thepacer.
