BRYANT -- Down several players to sickness, Alma needed something special to knock off Bryant.
The Airedales delivered.
Behind long-range marksmanship, Alma came from 16 points down in the second half to stun Bryant 55-53 in a 7A/6A-Central showdown at Bryant Gymnasium.
Alma (10-8, 3-4) made 12 of 16 three-point attempts -- five from junior guard Nathan Corder -- to pull off the comeback despite having four players miss the game due to illness.
Corder, who finished with a game-high 24 points, eased the strain of a short bench. He also added two free throws with 48.7 seconds left to give his team a 55-51 lead.
"It's a rare display. It's very rare," Alma Coach Stan Flenor said of his team's three-point shooting. "I'm proud of Nate. He spends a lot of time at it, and it's certainly good to see something good happen to him."
Bryant (15-5, 5-2) led most of the game, and the hosts still had a great look to send it to overtime. Trailing 55-53, Bryant's Calvin Allen stepped to the line with 6.5 seconds left but missed the front end of a 1-and-1. The Hornets scrambled to force a jump ball with 3.9 seconds left and retained possession. After a timeout, the Hornets' inbound play resulted in an off-balance layup that fell off the rim. Time expired before anyone could secure the rebound.
Over the final two minutes, Bryant had three turnovers and missed three layups.
"Several chances," Bryant Coach Mike Abrahamson said. "That's life. They hit some when we were draped all over them and in their face. And then we can't make some around the basket."
The Hornets led 38-22 with about six minutes remaining in the third quarter but went just 6 of 19 with seven turnovers to finish the game. From the 4:20 mark of the third quarter on, Alma went 11 of 16, including 7 of 8 from three-point range.
While Corder and Heath Friddle (four three-pointers, 14 points) were bringing the Airedales back, Bryant's offense halted. The Hornets still led 46-40 entering the fourth but managed just five points -- and four turnovers -- on its first 10 possessions of the quarter.
Alma took its first lead at 48-46, then fell behind briefly until Will Cluck's three-pointer with 1:23 left put his team ahead for good.
Bryant went 8 of 18 from three-point range, and Romen Martin scored 18 points. Braylon Steen added 11 in the loss.
ALMA (55)
Friddle 4 2-2 14, Cluck 2 0-0 5, Stahler 0 0-0 0, Johnson 0 0-0 0, Beneux 2 2-9 7, Corder 8 3-4 24, Jensen 2 0-0 5. Totals 18 7-15 55.
BRYANT (53)
Allen 3 0-1 9, Turner 0 0-0 0, Cowart 0 0-0 0, Hunt 3 0-0 7, Moody 1 0-0 2, Steen 5 1-2 11, Washington 3 0-0 6, Martin 6 2-2 18, Sahr 0 0-1 0. Totals 21 3-6 53.
Alma (10-8);9;13;18;15 -- 55
Bryant (15-5);18;14;14; 7 -- 53
Three-point goals --Alma 12 (Corder 5, Friddle 4, Cluck, Beneux, Jensen), Bryant 8 (Martin 4, Allen 3, Hunt). Team fouls -- Alma 15, Bryant 16. Fouled out -- none.
Sports on 02/03/2016