AUBURN - All it took was 30 seconds, and the Auburn boys basketball team went from one of the best comebacks of the season to square one.
Chet Susslin / The Citizen
Auburn senior Damien Whitaker goes up for a dunk after the opening tip-off with Utica Proctor's Deandre Preaster trailing on Friday night.
Auburn senior Damien Whitaker goes up for a dunk after the opening tip-off with Utica Proctor's Deandre Preaster trailing on Friday night.
Late in the fourth quarter against 20th-state ranked Utica Proctor, the Maroons all but erased a 13-point deficit.
With the Raiders clinging to a 64-61 lead, Jimmy Pitts blocked Desmond Tillery#'s shot and tipped it to Dave Foltz, who was already streaking towards the basket.
Foltz passed it to Pitts who dunked over several Proctor players, cutting the lead to one and energizing the Auburn fans.
But the cheers quickly turned to jeers as Pitts was called for his fifth foul - a technical - for hanging on the rim.
The Raiders ended the game on an 8-4 run and escaped with a 72-67 victory.
“It was a great play,” said Auburn coach Al Giannone. “Great pass, great dunk - you just got to come down. But the biggest thing about that play was that it put Jimmy on the bench for the rest of the game.”
“It was a good game, so every possession counted,”said Proctor forward Deandre Preaster. “We couldn't let up after he dunked the ball and got the technical. We made a free throw and kept playing.”
Though Auburn changed the momentum, it was Preaster who changed it back - on just about every play in each quarter.
The Section III standout poured in 31 points for the Raiders, pulled down 17 rebounds, had five steals and added a block for good measure.
With the absence of Pitts underneath, Preaster kept the Maroons at bay in the last two minutes by scoring four points, grabbing three boards with a steal and a block.
But Pitts wasn't the only one who was missing for Auburn. The Maroons got in foul trouble in the second quarter,giving the Raiders a chance to go from down by 10 to up by six (36-30) at a halftime.
“Our pressure hurt them early in the game,and we got in foul trouble in that second quarter and that killed us,” Giannone said. “They out-scored us 23-9. We had Damien (Whitaker) on the bench; we had Jimmy on bench - that hurts.”
As Proctor extended its lead in the second quarter, two more problems for Auburn began to surface.
The Maroons turned the ball over 11 times in the second and third quarters. When they went on a 9-0 run in the fourth, they didn't turn the ball over once.
Preaster thought his defense let up.
“They made quality shots, open shots, and they (weren't) contested so they made them count,” Preaster said.
Though the Raiders really didn't overpower the Maroons on the glass, Proctor got 17 points off of second chance shots.
“That was one of our goals to make sure we boxed out and they didn't get second looks and we knew that wasn't going to be easy, easier said than done,” Giannone said. “Without question that hurt us,but overall I think we did a decent job on the boards.”
Whitaker led Auburn with 22 points, 10 rebounds and six assists.
Dave Foltz added 12 points and six assists; Malcolm Bryant had 12 points and eight boards,while Pitts had six points and 10 boards.
Despite the loss,Giannone pointed out that he was proud of the team for coming back against one of the top teams in the CNYCL.
“We're not here just to be close to teams,we're here to be one of the best teams around,” he said. “I don't know if we're there yet, but we're getting there.”
Auburn (7-3) is at Nottingham on Monday.
With the Raiders clinging to a 64-61 lead, Jimmy Pitts blocked Desmond Tillery#'s shot and tipped it to Dave Foltz, who was already streaking towards the basket.
Foltz passed it to Pitts who dunked over several Proctor players, cutting the lead to one and energizing the Auburn fans.
But the cheers quickly turned to jeers as Pitts was called for his fifth foul - a technical - for hanging on the rim.
The Raiders ended the game on an 8-4 run and escaped with a 72-67 victory.
“It was a great play,” said Auburn coach Al Giannone. “Great pass, great dunk - you just got to come down. But the biggest thing about that play was that it put Jimmy on the bench for the rest of the game.”
“It was a good game, so every possession counted,”said Proctor forward Deandre Preaster. “We couldn't let up after he dunked the ball and got the technical. We made a free throw and kept playing.”
Though Auburn changed the momentum, it was Preaster who changed it back - on just about every play in each quarter.
The Section III standout poured in 31 points for the Raiders, pulled down 17 rebounds, had five steals and added a block for good measure.
With the absence of Pitts underneath, Preaster kept the Maroons at bay in the last two minutes by scoring four points, grabbing three boards with a steal and a block.
But Pitts wasn't the only one who was missing for Auburn. The Maroons got in foul trouble in the second quarter,giving the Raiders a chance to go from down by 10 to up by six (36-30) at a halftime.
“Our pressure hurt them early in the game,and we got in foul trouble in that second quarter and that killed us,” Giannone said. “They out-scored us 23-9. We had Damien (Whitaker) on the bench; we had Jimmy on bench - that hurts.”
As Proctor extended its lead in the second quarter, two more problems for Auburn began to surface.
The Maroons turned the ball over 11 times in the second and third quarters. When they went on a 9-0 run in the fourth, they didn't turn the ball over once.
Preaster thought his defense let up.
“They made quality shots, open shots, and they (weren't) contested so they made them count,” Preaster said.
Though the Raiders really didn't overpower the Maroons on the glass, Proctor got 17 points off of second chance shots.
“That was one of our goals to make sure we boxed out and they didn't get second looks and we knew that wasn't going to be easy, easier said than done,” Giannone said. “Without question that hurt us,but overall I think we did a decent job on the boards.”
Whitaker led Auburn with 22 points, 10 rebounds and six assists.
Dave Foltz added 12 points and six assists; Malcolm Bryant had 12 points and eight boards,while Pitts had six points and 10 boards.
Despite the loss,Giannone pointed out that he was proud of the team for coming back against one of the top teams in the CNYCL.
“We're not here just to be close to teams,we're here to be one of the best teams around,” he said. “I don't know if we're there yet, but we're getting there.”
Auburn (7-3) is at Nottingham on Monday.
The Citizens' Say
There are No comments posted.