Jan. 23—McHENRY — Garrett College pushed nationally-ranked Montgomery to the brink, but was outplayed down the stretch in a 103-100 loss on Wednesday.
The Lakers (13-4, 5-4 NJCAA Region 20) battled for about 33 minutes, but the offense went cold at the worst time.
“We came out and gave a great effort,” Garrett head coach Matt McCullough said. “Didn’t like the product we put on the floor on Saturday. We had a great couple days of practice. We got a resilient group of guys and we just didn’t make enough plays down the stretch to get it done.”
A pull-up jumper from Nasir Coleman put Garrett in front 84-77 with 8:52 to play.
On the other end, Thomas Loughry converted an and-one layup.
It began a 20-12 run over the next six minutes that ended with a putback from Yaheera Williams that put the Raptors (16-3, 8-0 Region 20) in front 97-96 with 2:27 remaining.
The Lakers missed three shots over the next two possessions, meanwhile, Mateusz Szpin scored a pair of layups that pushed the Raptor lead to 101-96 with 1:12 to play.
“We didn’t convert at the free-throw line, missed a couple makeable shots inside that we just gotta lock in, concentrate and find a way,” McCullough said. “You score 100 points against a team of that caliber, you gotta get enough stops on the defensive end.”
Szpin finished with 14 points and scored 10 in the first half.
Gavin Jackson hit a pair of free throws, then split the defense for a layup to cut the deficit to 101-100 with 53.2 seconds remaining.
Jackson finished with 16 points and three steals.
Montgomery was called for an offensive foul, but Garrett missed a layup.
After Christopher Levy sunk a pair at the line, the Lakers inbounded with 7.6 seconds left.
Levy scored 14 points, all after halftime.
After losing the handle, Garrett was forced to put up a shot from near midcourt at the buzzer.
While the Lakers led for about 18 minutes in the second half, it was either a one or two score game for most of it.
“They made some shots and imposed their will a little bit,” McCullough said. “As the game went on, it was a game we felt we were playing really well offensively, we couldn’t get stops. We were trading buckets.”
While most of the second half was anyone’s game, most of the first half was all about Garrett.
Over the first 10 minutes, the Lakers forced nine steals and turned them into 13 of Garrett’s first 26 points.
The Lakers led 26-13 after 10 minutes and by as many as 17 at 40-23.
“I had a feeling that we might start that way just from our guys approach to the game,” McCullough said. “We got guys that especially early, when their legs are fresh and ready to go, we make a lot of hustle plays. That starts in practice. I had a feeling we might take it into the game, and we did.”
Kam Heathington hit a triple for Garrett with 5:41 left for the Lakers’ biggest lead.
Heathington was the story of the first half for the Lakers, scoring 19 points and going 8 of 10 from the field.
He finished with a game-high 29 points, adding three steals and three assists.
The Raptors answered with a 21-8 run over the next four minutes and cut Garrett’s lead to 50-44.
Franklin Ayissi-Etoh led Montgomery during the run with eight points, two steals and an assist.
Ibrahim Abdulmateen-Robinson banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer to cut the Laker halftime advantage to 53-47.
“They got a couple offensive rebounds and putbacks,” McCullough said. “We got a couple of miscommunications, gave them some open shots. They kinda settled into the game and we weren’t forcing as many turnovers.”
Abdulmateen-Robinson finished with 19 points including 10 in the first half.
Antonio Adams finished with 12 points for Garrett while K’Shawn Scott scored 10.
Thomas Loughry finished with 17 points for Montgomery including 14 after halftime.
Isaiah Gill scored 11 points while Sebastian Dokum added 10 for the Raptors.
Montgomery’s three losses are to No. 3 Davidson Davie (95-92), No. 4 Macomb (77-72) and Bryant & Stratton who received votes in the latest NJCAA Division II poll.
“A loss is a loss for us,” McCullough said. “We don’t look too much into moral victories. We expect to win games, we expect to compete and be the best team every time we step foot on the court.”
The Lakers host Baltimore City (12-16, 9-8 Region 20) on Saturday at 3 p.m.
Jordan Kendall is a Sports Writer for the Cumberland Times-News. Email him with scores and story suggestions at jkendall@times-news.com.
