MT. CARMEL, Ill. -- Wabash Valley came all the way back from a 29-point first-half deficit, only to fall short at the end against Lewis & Clark on Wednesday night at Spencer Sports Center.
It was only after Gary Clay missed what would have been a game-tying 3-point field goal at the buzzer had the Trailblazers finally escaped with an 82-79 Region 24 victory.
WVC fell to 9-8 with the loss. Lewis & Clark improved to 5-8 with the victory,
It was a perfect storm of Warrior offensive ineffectiveness coupled with red-hot Lewis & Clark shooting over the first 11 minutes of the game. The Blazers led 13-0, then 30-4, before the bleeding finally stopped at 37-8.
Wabash Valley then began a slow climb out of a deep hole. A six-point run authored by Jakobi Heady, which began with a slam dunk that seemed to awaken the hosts, made it 37-14.
By halftime, the deficit was down to 21 points, at 47-26.
Clay opened the second half with two free throws and a 3-ball to make it 47-31, and suddenly the small but raucous crowd was getting energized.
A basket by Jalen Boyd shrunk the Warrior deficit to single digits for the first time at the 12:28 mark. It was 59-50.
After a Clay triple brought the Warriors to within four points, 70-66, with 4:30 left, the comeback seemed to stall out. The gap widened out to 11 points, 81-70, with 1:30 remaining.
But the Warriors were not done yet.
They put up nine straight points over the next 76 seconds. With the crowd now in a frenzy, Clay buried a 3-ball to make it 81-79 with 14 seconds left.
La'Terion White of Lewis & Clark was fouled at 0:11. He missed the second of his one-and-one free throws, giving the Warriors their aforementioned last chance.
Clay led Wabash Valley with 26 points, including four of the Warriors' six treys in the game. It was his second highest output of the year.
Heady was next with 19 points, followed by Ksuan Casey's 12 and Boyd's 10 points.
NuVuan Peterson led Lewis & Clark with 19 points. White added 17.
WVC heads for Olney Central (9-5, 3-2 in league) and a return to Great Rivers Athletic Conference warfare on Saturday at 3 p.m. The next home game is on Monday, Jan. 16th against Shawnee (7-6, 2-2) with a 7 p.m. tipoff.