St. Andrews’ strong effort not enough to defeat Pikeville

LAURINBURG — Effort is when an attempt is made to try and accomplish a goal.

While the St. Andrews Knights men’s basketball team couldn’t succeed at its task of winning Saturday, plenty of effort was given in trying to do so.

Going against the No. 2 team in the Appalachian Athletic Conference standings — the Pikeville Bears — St. Andrews battled late into the second half but was tripped up 85-73.

“We got a good opportunity to beat them,” St. Andrews head coach Randy Hernandez said. “We carried in the second half, not the first half. First half, we just were 8-for-25, so that kind of hurt us. But you’ve just got to play with the grit all the time and see what happens. The game was fair. So we’ve got to get the win.”

Down only 35-23 at halftime, St. Andrews (4-18, 1-18 AAC) saw its deficit enlarge to 42-24 following one make at the free-throw line by Jeremy Dillon less than two minutes into the second half. But a St. Andrews 18-6 run took place over the next almost four minutes, with Garrett McRae recording six of them, to mark the score at 48-42. Pikeville (18-6, 16-4 AAC) extended its lead to 55-45, but an opportunity for the Knights to make it a seven-point game after Sincere Clark seemingly made a layup-and-1 was squandered by an offensive foul call.

“Every possession for us counts,” Hernandez said. “So if it goes the other way, it hurts us. And unfortunately, it went the other way, and that’s what happens. We changed the momentum of the game.”

With the Bears’ energy boost, they darted ahead 67-49 with 9:36 to go after a 12-4 spurt, but the Knights charged back to make it 76-66 over the ensuing 5 1/2 minutes. Pikeville scored five consecutive points for a comfortable lead, and from then on, St. Andrews only got to within 12 on the game’s final basket — a Caleb Montgomery 3-point shot with 26 seconds left.

“We’re just trying to play one game at a time,” Hernandez said. “They know it. Everything counts. It’s all about grit right now.”

Bradley Bunch scored 24 points on 10-for-15 shooting with seven rebounds for Pikeville; Isaac Stanback had a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds; Kyonte Thomas scored 11 points with four rebounds; Connor Lane had 10 points and Keian Worrix dished six assists.

Jalen Mcafee-Marion paced St. Andrews with 25 points and five assists; McRae scored 12 points with four rebounds and two steals; Allan Taylor had 11 points, five rebounds and two blocks and Quwan Barnes had eight points, six rebounds and two steals.

In the Knights’ dormant first half, they fell into a quick 3-0 hole before getting on the board with two free throws by Taylor at the 17:40 mark. With Pikeville leading 11-5, Mcafee-Marion made a layup with 13:45 till halftime to help St. Andrews, but the Bears emerged on a 6-0 mini-run to take their lead into double digits. The Knights got back in it at 19-15, thanks to Mcafee-Marion’s 3, until Pikeville went on a 12-3 sprint and led 31-18 with 4:38 to go in the half; after McRae hit a 3-pointer, both teams exchanged layups before Lane hit a jump shot for Pikeville, with the last 1:26 following Lane’s shot going scoreless.

“We just had to come in from the first half,” Hernandez said. “I think the guys, they talked over it. I let them speak their minds, and they fixed it.”

St. Andrews went 21-for-34 (61.8%) shooting in the second half, but Pikeville went 19 of 30 (63.3), which ultimately helped the Bears triumph.

The Knights are back on Harris Court on Feb. 10 against Reinhardt.

Brandon Hodge is the sports editor for The Laurinburg Exchange. He can be reached at 910-506-3171 or by email at [email protected]. Follow him on X/Twitter at @BrandonHSports.