Box Score
SALISBURY, NC – The Livingstone men's basketball team overcame a five-point deficit with just more than a minute to play to defeat the St. Paul's College Tigers 73-69 Saturday evening.
With 1:12 left in the contest, St. Paul's led by five. The Blue Bears came down the court and Greg Henry missed a three-point attempt. Darius Cox caught the ball out of the air and dunked it to bring the Blue Bears within three and get the crowd on their feet.
The Tigers inbounded the ball and St. Paul's Kendrick Williams stepped on the sideline and turned the ball over back to Livingstone. The Blue Bears put up two shots on the ensuing possession, both of them missed, but both came with offensive rebounds. Cox got the ball and hit a 10-foot jumper with 39 seconds left to get Livingstone within one.
After a St. Paul's timeout, the Tigers sent the ball in and the Blue Bears trapped St. Paul's in a corner and Trone Jackson made a steal. Jackson drove to the basket laid the ball in the basket and was fouled. Jackson completed the three-point play to give the Blue Bears a 69-67 lead with 33 seconds left. Livingstone converted its free throws in the final 15 seconds to seal the victory.
The first half was a battle between the Blue Bears and Tigers with Livingstone grabbing an early, slim lead, but St. Paul's fought back and took a four-point lead with 13:49 to go in the opening half. Livingstone regained a one-point edge with just under 10 minutes left and the teams traded the lead over the next few minutes.
St. Paul's held a slim one-point edge with 7:55 on the clock before the Blue Bears went on a 7-0 run to take a six-point edge with 6:22 to play in the opening half. Livingstone maintained its lead over the Tigers for the remainder of the half and took a 38-32 lead into the break.
To start the second half the Tigers got within one with 17:57 left, but couldn't get any closer at the moment. Livingstone opened up a seven point lead with just under 14 minutes left and the Blue Bears hit their largest lead of the contest of 11 points with 11:18 left.
After the 11-point lead for the Blue Bears, the Tigers slowly started creeping back into the game. St. Paul's went on a 7-0 run to get within four points with 9:44 to play in the game. St. Paul's tied the contest with 4:06 left and took a three-point lead with 2:21 left. St. Paul's largest lead of five points came with 1:12 left before Livingstone made its comeback for the victory.
Darius Cox and Tyler Johnson each recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Donte Durant also added 14 points and grabbed eight boards. The Blue Bears shot 39.7 percent from the field, but hit only two of 21 three-point attempts.
Livingstone won the rebounding battle 48-43 and pulled down 28 offensive rebounds, leading to 27 second-chance points. The Blue Bears also capitalized on the 17 Tiger turnovers, scoring 24 points.
With the victory, the Blue Bears improved to 3-1 on the season while the Tigers fell to 2-3.
The Blue Bears will take a break until December 14 when they head to Pfeiffer University for a 6 p.m. battle with the Falcons. Pfeiffer defeated Livingstone 79-77 in the first game of the season.
