Trailing 62-61 with 18.3 seconds left in the game and looking to win the game on a last second shot, the JDCC Warhawks saw their chance of winning get stolen away as the LBW Saints put the game away with a late steal and defeat the Warhawks 64-61.
The Warhawks fell to 1-18 overall and to 1-8 in conference play with the loss.
JDCC trailed LBW 62-58 with 1:54 left in the game, but saw Chris Oden cut the lead to one with 59.5 seconds left in the game after getting a basket and being fouled on the play.
From there, the JDCC defense forced the Saints into a turnover and took over the ball with just under 20 seconds left in the game.
With JDCC trying to get the win on a last second shot, LBW stole the ball and drove down and scored to go up by three points, 64-61, with 6.7 seconds left.
After a JDCC timeout, the Warhawks had one last chance to tie the game and force overtime, but a last second shot came up short and the Warhawks took the loss by three points.
“I’m proud of the players for continuing to compete in spite of all the adversity we have had this year,” JDCC head coach Allen Gainer said.
In the first half, JDCC led LBW 28-22 with 2:37 left before halftime, but fell to a 7-0 run to end the half as the Saints took a 29-28 lead into the locker room.
The two teams battled back-and-forth in the second half with JDCC using a 7-0 run to take their biggest lead of the second half by five points, 40-35, with 15:55 left in the game.
LBW later used a 9-0 run to take a 47-42 lead with 11:52 left in the game and went on to outscore JDCC 35-33 in the second half and hold on for the win.
Chris Oden led the Warhawks with 17 points and Adrian Rich followed close behind with 14.
Matt Bass chipped in nine points and Anthony Bell had seven. Fletcher Forte and Keaynon Gulley both had five points each while Devonte Pope had four points.
The Warhawks shot 9-for-13 from the free throw line in the loss while LBW was 10-for-12. JDCC was 2-for-3 in the first half from the line and 7-for-10 in the second half. LBW shot 4-for-5 in the first half and 6-for-7 in the second half.
Rich led with eight rebounds in the loss and Oden led with four assists. Gulley, Rich and Bass all had one block each while Bell, Oden and Pope all had two steals each to lead the Warhawks.
JDCC will be off until Thursday, Feb. 14 when they travel to Phenix City to take on Chattahoochee Valley. Game time is set for 6:30 p.m.
JDCC will return home to face Enterprise on Monday, Feb. 18. Game time is set for 7 p.m. in Brewton.