NC West Virginia News

AB Wins Overtime Thriller Against Salem

Alderson Broaddus Men's Basketball won an overtime thriller at Salem 84-82 to get back in the win column. The Battlers shot 50% from the field and 52.6% from three while holding Salem to 28.6% from three. 

AB started off hot right out of the gates with Rye Gadd and Zach Simpkins scoring 11 points in the first two and a half minutes. The Battlers allowed the Tigers to tighten their early lead until they would go on a 13-2 run to double Salem's total at 28-14 right before the under-10 media timeout.  

Salem closed the gap to single digits, however the Battlers hot shooting was too much. A pair of Zach Simpkins free throws gave the Battlers their biggest lead of 18 out of the under-5 media timeout. Simpkins scored 14 points in the first half but had to sit the final minutes due to foul trouble. Once Simpkins left the game, the Tigers would cut the lead down to just six until a layup by Tahleik Walker gave AB a 47-39 halftime lead. 

The opening minutes of the second half looked a lot like the opening minutes of the first half. Simpkins scored seven of the first nine points to open the half. Coryon Rice would join in on the hot shooting with a three to extend the lead back to double digits. AB kept the Tigers away through the halfway point of the second half. 

Salem narrowed the Battlers lead to two and took their first lead of the game at the 6:19 mark with a MarkAnthony Fidelis three. Jaelyn Ehtridge tied the game back at 70 with a three assisted by Fraser LaRocque. AB would endure a three-minute scoring drought, allowing Salem to climb ahead 77-70 with just a little over a minute and a half left. 

Sirr Hughes took it into his own hands to bring the Battlers back with seven straight points. He would hit a three to cut the lead to four and hit another three from the corner, getting fouled in the midst of it. Hughes connected on the game-tying free throw. Salem had a chance to win it but came up short on a 15-foot jumper to send it to overtime. 

The teams traded punches in overtime, going bucket-for-bucket and swapping one-point leads. Fraser LaRocque gave the Battlers an 82-81 lead with 1:31 left and Salem had a chance to take the lead back, however the Tigers' Ian Hardy went 1-of-2 from the free throw line to even it at 82. Tahleik Walker hit an acrobatic layup through contact with 18 seconds left to inevitably win the game for AB. Salem had an open look from three and a contested jumper to win it but fell short on both attempts.  

Zach Simpkins led all scorers with 24 points. Coryon Rice added 12 points, Rye Gadd and Sirr Hughes chipped in 11 points each. Rice also had a game-high four steals.  

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