West Memphis ready from start

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

WEST MEMPHIS - West Memphis climbed out of a 25-point hole before letting a late lead slip away against Jacksonville earlier this season in its season-opening game at Jacksonville.

West Memphis made sure that didn’t happen again Tuesday night.

The Blue Devils used a 24-4 run over the second and third quarters to defeat Jacksonville 70-57 at Lehr Arena.

“We felt like we let one slip away from us [at Jacksonville],” said West Memphis senior forward Divontia Hyland, who scored a team high 18 points Tuesday night. “[The players] talked about it a lot before the game.”

The Blue Devils (5-2) out rebounded Jacksonville (4-1) 35-21 and shot 55.2 percent from the floor (21 of 38).

Jacksonville led 31-26 with two minutes to play in the first half, but West Memphis scored the final nine points totake a 35-31 lead into halftime.

Blue Devil starters Vakeymeyus Davis, Jevon Bernard and Hyland all had three fouls at halftime, which led West Memphis Coach Larry Bray to go with a smaller lineup to open the third quarter.

His team responded with a 15-4 run to open the half.

“We did so well with that small lineup that I decided to stay with it into the fourth quarter,” Bray said. “Basketball’s all about having that momentum, and I just wanted to stay with it.”

Jacksonville cut West Memphis’ lead to 66-55 with 1:35 to play in the fourth quarter, but senior Dyone Lunzy’s breakaway dunk gave West Memphis a 68-55 lead and sealed it for the Blue Devils with 1:03 left.

Jacksonville’s Devon Campbell led all scorers with 19 points.

Sports, Pages 24 on 12/04/2013