With just over three seconds left, Charlottesville senior guard Maurice Jackson was just trying to make one free throw. Sinking one of his three chances would give the Black Knights a huge road win over rival Western Albemarle.
“The biggest thing was to make one, at least make one and let the clock run out once they inbounded it,” he said.
The drama didn’t build too much though, because Jackson sunk the first one, giving the Knights (2-1, 2-0 JD) a one-point lead. He missed the next two however, and it wasn’t quite over.
Following a Western timeout, with 2.8 seconds left, the Warriors heaved it down court but Jackson tipped the ball in the air and the Knights secured the slim 65-64 victory.
“I tipped the ball in the air away from [Western senior guard Christian] Pierce and he lost control of it and [Charlottesville junior guard] Terrence [Briggs] grabbed it and that’s what got us the game right there,” Jackson said
Only moments before the game-clinching free-throw, however, Western (2-2, 1-1 JD) had the upper hand, poised to take the lead coming out of a timeout. The Warriors inbounded the ball with 26 seconds left but as soon as Pierce crossed half court, he was swarmed by a bunch of Black Knights and sophomore guard Daquan Jones forced a held ball, possession arrow Charlottesville.
“We always try to trap from the side a lot of the time and we really just wanted to play man,” said Charlottesville coach Mitch Minor. “But it turned into a situation where we could trap so that was good. Initially though we just wanted to play good man-to-man defense and not give them any easy looks since they had the last opportunity to score [so we could] at least get into overtime. If we had the opportunity, we definitely wanted to make a good defensive play, which we did.”
The turnover was one of several on the night for the Warriors who, despite looking sloppy at times, seemed to be in control during the second half.
“We were gonna run a little isolation play with Christian and [sophomore guard] Travis [Hester] where we were gonna drive on Travis’ side,” said Western coach Darren Maynard. “We wanted to briefly delay the game because there was 26 seconds when it started and we just made another mindless turnover, one in a long line.”
The ending was fitting for a game that was tight nearly the whole way. Up 60-58 with two minutes left, the Warriors were looking to extend their lead when Jackson came up with a steal — one of five on the night, to go with 24 points — and broke away for the game tying lay-up.
“I saw it and my eyes lit up,” Jackson said. “I stole it and ran down the court. I thought I was gonna lose it and then I got control of my body.”
Western maintained a very slim lead during the second half behind Hester who poured in 31 points and shot an incredible 7-of-9 from three-point land.
“Sometimes you get in a zone,” Minor said, referring to Hester. “We had guys with a hand in his face. Once you get in a rhythm — you hit one or two or three — the next thing you know, you’re not missing no matter what.”
Western was unable to pull away, however, as defensive lapses kept the Knights in the game.
“We got a nice little lead and really, the turning point in my view is we couldn’t get the stops we needed down the stretch,” Maynard said. “We’d go up six, give them a couple ridiculously easy baskets…where we weren’t guarding anybody and gave them a couple stickbacks, right in a [time frame] where if you get one or two stops, the game’s over. Our inability to do that was very disappointing to me.”
Senior forward Dante Crawford also had a solid game for Western, contributing 13 points and three blocks. Pierce added 12 points, but was cold beyond the arc, missing on all six of his three-pointers.
“[Dante’s] played well all year and did it again tonight offensively,” Maynard said. “One of our biggest problems is we have to create some depth. We haven’t had anyone off the bench play like we need them to play. I think Dante just wore himself out during the stretch as did several others. That was a factor in us not being able to get stops when we had to have them.”
The only part of the game that wasn’t close was the first quarter, when Charlottesville stormed out to a 16-5 lead, scoring the first 10 points of the game in the process.
The Warriors have a quick turnaround and face Albemarle at home Saturday at 6 p.m.
“This is a brutal stretch,” Maynard said. “Three games in four days—probably our three biggest rivals—that’s tough. I just told them to get some fluids and try to regroup and correct the mistakes we made tonight.”
Charlottesville, meanwhile, gets a well-deserved rest before facing William Monroe at home next Friday.
