WEB CAST.
Survive and advance is the name of the game come playoff time and on Wednesday night at Trojan Coliseum, that's exactly what the Garner Trojans did as they came from nine down to defeat Hoke County 70-69 in overtime.
Hoke County (12-13) came out on fire and used their hot hands to grab a quick five point lead in the opening stanza. However, the Trojans didn't fold as they cut the lead to three at 20-17 after one.
Garner (26-0) continued to struggle to find their shot into the second period, meanwhile the Bucks went inside to Tarique Thompson who dominated the low block with 10 points in the first half. With just under five minutes left in the half, Trojan head coach Eddie Gray called a timeout with his team down by seven. Following the timeout, the men of Troy went on a run to close the half, only down one at 35-34.
The Trojans came out in the second half with a renewed intensity but in the early stages of the third, it didn't show as Garner only scored nine points in the third. Hoke continued to pound the ball inside however, the big men down low for the Trojans limited the production of the Bucks big guys.
Where things really went south for Garner was the outside shooting of Hoke County - after hitting seven three pointer's in the opening half, Hoke hit just three in the second (four coming from one player). Scoring only nine points in the third, Hoke took a 50-43 lead to the final period.
The deficit for the Trojans grew to as many as nine in the opening stages of the fourth quarter, that's when Garner went to work. They switched to some full court pressure while Emmanuel McClain kept Garner in the game scoring seven of his 17 points in the fourth quarter. Cameron Redd and Dominique Reed also came up big, scoring five and nine points, respectively.
Garner turned the game around midway through the period and took a four point lead. The game really turned at the 5:04 mark of the final period when the Trojans called a timeout, trailing 55-49, following that stoppage in play, Garner went on a 10-4 run to knot the score at 59 with 2:23 to play. Hoke County tied the game up late in the fourth and sent the game into overtime, with the score tied at 64.
Playing their second extra session of the season, Garner who had the momentum kept a good thing rolling stopping the Bucks time after time - meanwhile, E. McClain led the Trojans with four points in the overtime. Thompson led the Bucks with three points in the overtime.
Garner held a one point, 70-69 lead with 3.8 left in overtime and Hoke County had the ball, however the half court heave was no good and the Trojans survived.
The Trojans will return home on Friday night when they will host the New Hanover Wildcats at Trojan Coliseum. Tip off is slated for 7:00.
Trojans survive Hoke County and advance to third round
