By GARY STALLARD
AC Athletics
Facing the top teams in their respective conferences was going to be a tall task anyway, and the Angelina College Lady Roadrunners and Roadrunners fell short in a pair of home losses Saturday at Shands Gymnasium.
Jacksonville’s Lady Jaguars held off the Lady ‘Runners 83-77 behind 31 points from Ines Nezerwa, and the Jaguars fended off a late Roadrunner rally to take a 69-63 win.
Both AC teams are on the road Wednesday, with the Lady Roadrunners traveling to Athens to take on Trinity Valley Community College and the Roadrunners taking on Lee College in Baytown.
Jacksonville 83, Lady Roadrunners 77
Jacksonville’s Nezerwa and AC’s Natasha Mack waged a battle in the paint, with the two 6’4” post players fighting for position nearly every possession.
Saturday’s matchup went to Nezerwa, who finished with a game-high 31 points to go with 10 rebounds.
Mack fought her way to an 18-point, seven-rebound performance, but the Lady Jags were able to hold off a late AC surge in the final 30 seconds to secure the win.
Lady ‘Runner Mia Williams nailed a three pointer off an assist from Priscilla Murray with 25 seconds to play to trim the Jacksonville lead to five points at 80-75. Mack’s free throws got AC to within three points, but the Lady Jags’ Florence Sifa hit three free throws in the final seconds to hold off the Lady Roadrunners.
Williams finished with 18 points after connecting on six three pointers. Mia Perkins added 12 points and nine rebounds.
The Lady Roadrunners (18-8, 10-6) will face Trinity Valley’s Lady Cardinals Wednesday in Athens. Game time is 5:30 p.m.
Jacksonville 69, Roadrunners 63
A very physical defensive battle eventually went against the home team, with the Roadrunners dropping a 69-63 loss to the Jaguars on Saturday.
The teams combined for just 56 points over the game’s first 20 minutes – well below the per-game average for both squads. AC trailed 29-27, but rallied late in the second half to take a 55-51 lead on Kevin Norman buckets on back-to-back AC possessions.
With the scored knotted at 55-55 with five minutes to play, however, Jacksonville put together just enough of a scoring run to take the lead for good. A.J. Sparks hit a pair of free throws, Christian Barrett scored in the paint and Tylin Lockett dropped a three pointer to give the Jaguars enough cushion to hold off the hard-charging Roadrunners.
AC’s Norman led the Roadrunners with 16 points. Isaac Beal added 13 points and eight rebounds, and Travis Henson contributed 10 points.
Lockett, Sparks and Jabari Narcis each scored 12 points for Jacksonville.
The Roadrunners (13-13, 5-10) play Lee College Wednesday in Baytown. Game time is 7:30 p.m.
The e-mail address for AC’s Sports Information Director is gstallard@angelina.edu.
