Box Score
SALISBURY, NC – The Livingstone men's basketball team squandered a 17-point lead midway through the second half as the Pfeiffer University Falcons downed the Blue Bears 79-77 in the third game of the Highway 52 Tournament.
Pfeiffer used a 22-4 run over 5:45 of the second half to erase a 17-point Livingstone lead. Sophomore Tyler Johnson put the Blue Bears up 61-44 with a layup with 11:22 to play before the Falcons dominated the Blue Bears. With 5:37 left in the second half the Falcons grabbed a 66-65 lead which was their first lead since the score was 2-0.
The last five minutes of the contest were a battle. Livingstone regained the lead 68-66 on a three-point play by Omar Ford-Bey and led by the slimmest of margins multiple times over the last three minutes only to see Pfeiffer respond to regain the edge.
Pfeiffer led 78-75 with 17 seconds left and Livingstone called a timeout. Instead of going for a three-pointer the Blue Bears took the quick two points on a Trone Jackson layup. Livingstone fouled quickly and Pfeiffer hit one of two free throws to set up Livingstone for a last-second attempt at the victory. Jackson drove the ball up the court and found Aaron Wilson in the near corner. Wilson fired a three-point attempt that was just long and before a rebound could be secured the time expired with Pfeiffer taking the victory.
Livingstone got off to a hot start from beyond the three-point line in the first half, connecting on 9-of-18 long-range attempts. Senior forwards Darius Cox and Donte Durant were responsible for the first 13 points for the Blue Bears as Livingstone jumped out to an early 13-6 lead.
The Blue Bears continued to be hot from beyond the three-point arc as Aaron Wilson connected on 4-of-6 attempts that helped the Blue Bears open up a 10-point edge at 27-17. Livingstone's lead hovered around the 10-point mark for the majority of the first half and the Blue Bears took a 41-32 lead into the half.
Darius Cox led the Blue Bears with 22 points in his first game as a Blue Bear, but was quiet from the field over the last 12 minutes of the contest. Aaron Wilson notched 13 points, all coming in the first half, while Omar Ford-Bey had 12 in his Livingstone debut. Junior Greg Henry led the Blue Bears on the boards with six rebounds and added eight points.
With the loss the Blue Bears fell to 0-1 on the season while Pfeiffer improved to 2-0 after it defeated Urbana in the first game of the tournament Friday evening.
Livingstone will take on Catawba Sunday evening at 6:30 p.m. in the final game of the tournament.
