SENECA 69, GEORGIAN 64

Despite a superb effort by the visiting Georgian Grizzlies, the Seneca Sting were able to narrowly escape with a 69-64 victory.

In speaking with Seneca assistant coach Trevor Challenger prior to the game, he said he was nervous about this game. After 40 minutes, it was clear what Coach Challenger was nervous about.

The Grizzlies continually made shots at one end of the floor and frustrated the Sting shooters on the defensive end. The exceptions were Vadim Halimov and Felix Adjei. Halimov scored 10 of his 20 points in the opening quarter while Adjei sealed the victory with eight points in the fourth quarter.

Seneca led for the entire game, at one point stretching their lead to eleven points at 51-40, but could not put away the Grizzlies.

In the opening quarter, Halimov led the Sting with 10 points to give Seneca a 25-16 lead.  Georgian's Ben Dance did his part to keep things close as he had eleven of his own.

The Grizzlies actually outscored the sting by a 48-44 advantage over the final three quarters.

With 6:05 to play, Georgian tied the game for only the second time all night. Following a Seneca basket, Halimov came up big with a three-point play, converting the free throw after a foul and basket. The Grizzlies responded with a three-pointer to pull within two.

After a Seneca miss, the Grizzlies looked to tie the game only to have Adjei steal the ball. Calmar Morgan missed the layup, but Adjei, trailing close behind, went up and finished the missed shot with a crowd-roaring dunk.

With 2:09 remaining, Adjei struck again with a fade-away jumper with three seconds left on the shot clock for a 63-59 lead.

Georgian quickly countered with a field goal of their own, but Adjei's contested shot went off the glass with 1:28 remaining restored a two-possession lead.

Calmar Morgan clinched the victory with 2.5 seconds left when he made both of his free throws after Georgian had closed the gap to three points.

Adjei and Halimov finished with nineteen and eighteen points respectively. Adjei also added six rebounds and two assists while Derek DeJesus contributed three assists.

Dance was the leading scorer for the Grizzlies with eighteen points and eight rebounds.  Justin Mitchell had four assists.

The Seneca Sting (11-1) will host Fleming (2-9) on Tuesday at 8 p.m. while the Georgian Grizzlies (1-11) will back in action Wednesday as they welcome Durham (3-9) at 8 p.m.

Source: Seneca College