PARAGOULD, Ark. – Defeating an opponent more than once in a single season is always a tough task, especially when a team has to face the same opponent twice within a three-day span. That was the case for the Lyon College men’s basketball team and Crowley’s Ridge College (CRC). The Scots bested the Pioneers, 90-51, on Thursday night in Batesville and completed the series sweep over CRC as Lyon earned a 75-50 victory on Saturday in Paragould.
The Scots, now winners of three straight, improved to 8-4 on the season, while CRC fell to 3-12.
Each team had their chance at taking the lead to open up the game as the Scots struck first with a bucket by Eric Moses and a pair of free throws by Blake Bradshaw. After CRC knotted up the game at 4-4, the Pioneers would take their turn at holding on to the lead on a pair of free throws by Randy Stanley.
The Scots would not let the Pioneers keep their lead for long however as a jumper by Faris Verlasevic knotted the game at 6-6. Much like the first game, the Scots held the Pioneers scoreless for an extended period of time and the same case happened for CRC on Saturday. The Pioneers went scoreless over the next five minutes of the game as a three-pointer by Emir Sabic opened up a 14-0 run. A free throw by Beau Gramling broke the scoreless streak for the Pioneers and put the score at 20-7 in favor of the Scots. Stanley and Braeden Williams would help lead the Pioneers back into the game as the duo combined for 15 of the next 17 points for CRC and trimmed the deficit to two points at 26-24 with 3:20 left in the half. A three-point play by Austin Pike brought the Pioneers back even with the Scots a 27-27. The Scots would answer back with a 6-0 run to end the half as Moses sandwiched a bucket by Ray Price with a pair of free throws and a jumper of his own.
The two teams kept things close in the opening minutes of the second half with a pair of ties and two lead changes. After Moses sank two more free throws for the Scots with 13:36 remaining, Price drilled another jumper to give the Scots a 41-39 advantage. Lyon began to pull away from the Pioneers late in the half and led by as many as 27 points on a pair of free throws by Antanas Krimelis with just under a minute left in the game. The Pioneers added another bucket by Gramling late, but that would be all CRC would get the rest of the way as the Scots completed the regular-season sweep.
Moses led the Scots with a team-high 19 points, while Krimelis recorded his first double-double of the season as he finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Stanley finished with a game-high 20 points for the Pioneers.
The Scots will cap the 2018 portion of their schedule with an exhibition game at NCAA Division I Central Arkansas on Dec. 30 at 4 p.m.
Take a look at the official stats below.
From Lyon College Sports Information Director Matt Jagodzinski
