Little Rock Parkview trailed by seven points with more than two minutes remaining Tuesday night.
However, the Patriots put the hammer down on Pine Bluff and handed the Zebras their first 5A-Central Conference loss, earning a 59-56 victory at Charles Ripley Arena in Little Rock.
Pine Bluff (8-9, 6-1) led 52-45 with 2:23 left to play, but Parkview (13-6, 5-2) was not deterred.
Senior forward Allen Flanigan, who led Parkview with 26 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocked shots, started the Patriots on an 11-0 run with a layup with 2:09 remaining.
Parkview senior forward Airion Simmons (15 points, 7 rebounds) scored the next six points, with his layup giving the Patriots a 53-52 lead with 41 seconds left.
It was 56-52 Parkview with 13.3 seconds remaining when Pine Bluff senior guard Kaleb Higgins hit a floater to pull the Zebras within 56-54.
The Patriots sealed the victory at the free-throw line, hitting three of four attempts.
Parkview Coach Al Flanigan knew the significance of his team's victory.
"We wanted that one bad," Flanigan said. "We knew if they got out of here with a win, one of our goals is to win the conference, that was going to go down the drain.
"We stepped it up. It was a hard-fought game. They've got a good team."
Pine Bluff Coach Billy Dixon believed he saw his team miss an opportunity to knock off the defending Class 5A state champions.
"We made simple mistakes," Dixon said. "We made three turnovers that turned into buckets. We talk about one of the three most important keys we have to do is limit the number of turnovers.
"That was the essence of it."
Parkview led 26-24 at halftime and 38-35 at the end of the third quarter. Pine Bluff took a 43-41 lead when Higgins made two free throws with 5:49 left. He then hit a three-pointer at the 4:35 mark for a 46-41 advantage.
Higgins scored a game-high 31 points, with no other Zebra scoring more than 10 points. He made 3 three-pointers.
"He knew he had to score," Dixon said. "He was playing on all three levels, getting to the rack, getting the floaters and shooting some threes. That's the kind of guy he is."
Al Flanigan was impressed with Higgins' performance.
"That little sucker's tough," Flanigan said. "We tried to double team him, to try to wear him out. That didn't work. He was just as fresh at the end of the game as he was at the beginning
Sports on 01/30/2019