It was a game of ups and downs, highs and lows Monday at home for the Jefferson Davis Community College Warhawk basketball team but in the end, they pulled out a 78-68 win over Chattahoochee Valley.
The win for the Warhawks improved them to 13-8 overall and to 7-3 in conference play.
In the their first game in a week, JDCC led the Pirates by five points at the half, 36-31, before outscoring them 42-37 in the second to get the win by 10.
JDCC led by as much as five in the first half and trailed by the same margin before using a 7-0 run and a 6-0 run later in the half to hold the lead at the half.
In the second half, JDCC led by as much as 11 points with 13:38 left in the game before seeing the Pirates rally and cut the lead to one with 5:51 left to play.
From there, JDCC would end the game on an 18-9 to get the win including a 6-0 run to put their lead to nine with 2:16 left.
JDCC would go 6-for-8 from the free throw line in the final 1:28 to help aid in the win.
“That was a big win because that gets us the tie-breaker over them,” JDCC head coach Allen Gainer said after being Chattahoochee Valley. “We have seven wins already and for them to get ahead of us, they have to get to eight and being tied with us will not be good enough. They have four games and have a really tough for games with Faulkner and Alabama Southern. They really have a hole to dig out of.”
As for seeing their lead go from 11 points to one point late in the game?
“We had to make it exciting,” Gainer said. “Larel (Jackson) made a lot of plays down the stretch and we hit some free throws down the stretch. We had hard time trying to rebound but we got enough of them to get the win. R.J. (Bowers) played outstanding tonight and that is probably is career best. He really played well and hit some big shots when he had the opportunity. I am really proud of him.”
The Warhawks had four players in double figures with Turmonte Ragland leading the way with 17 points. Brandon Scott followed with 15 and Jackson added 14. Sherman Presswood rounded out the double-figure scorers with 11.
D.J. Jackson had nine points and Bowers finished with eight. Adam Stumpf and Greg Crum both had two points each in the win.
Larel Jackson led with eight assists and Ragland led with nine rebounds while Stumpf led with one block.
D.J. Jackson, Presswood, Scott and Bowers all had two steals each to lead the team.
The Warhawks were 19-for-27 from the free throw line in the win while Chattahoochee Valley was 6-for-14.
JDCC is scheduled to play at Enterprise Thursday at 7 p.m. before returning home for a three-game stretch. JDCC will be back at home Monday, Feb. 20 against Bishop State at 7 p.m.