Aycock storms back to defeat Rosewood

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on December 30, 2011 1:48 PM

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PIKEVILLE -- Rosewood let a 19-point lead slip away over the course of the second half and Charles B. Aycock took advantage for a 51-47 win on its home floor on Thursday night.

Rosewood opened the game with a scoring flurry that led to a 19-7 lead after one quarter. By the time the intermission came, the Eagles' lead was 26-14. A 7-0 run to open the second half seamed to put the game well in-hand for the visitors, but the Golden Falcons would not go away.

"I challenged my guys at halftime to come out and play more aggressive and to play the way they are capable," C.B. Aycock head coach Steve Moats said. "We got down 35-16 at one point, but toward the end of the third quarter it looked like everything just clicked."

Trailing 40-27 with less than a minute to play in the third quarter the home team turned up the pressure on defense. The result was two quick baskets to end the period.

The Golden Falcons stayed in the full-court press to begin the fourth quarter and reeled off a 13-0 run to tie the game at 40 with four minutes left to play.

"It was the first time all season that we were able to get in the press and stay in it," Moats said. "I was pleasantly surprised with how well we executed defensively."

A 3-pointer from Cameron Johnson gave the Golden Falcons their first lead of the contest with three minutes to play. Rosewood answered with a basket by Josh Davis, but never regained the advantage.

"We played selfish basketball and you can not win like that," Rosewood head coach Daniel Mitchell said. "We refused to set up an offense for whatever reason in the second half, we turned the ball over too many times and we missed too many foul shots. It is that simple."

C.B. Aycock (2-8) preserved the win by hitting 3-of-6 free throws in the final 40 seconds. Free throw shooting was the backstory of the game as the teams combined to make just 18 shots in 48 attempts. Rosewood connected on just 3-of-11 in the final period.

Michael Williams led the Golden Falcons with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Johnson added seven points in the win.

Josh Davis paced the Eagles (4-5) with 15 points. Joel Davis added nine points and nine rebounds. Zach Thornton finished with eight points and nine boards.

Rosewood opens Carolina 1-A Conference play on Jan. 6 at Ayden-Grifton. C.B. Aycock visits Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference foe Cleveland on Tuesday.