Sharp-Shooting Baylor Beats McCallie At Home

Red Raiders Can Eight 3-Pointers In 51-45 Victory At Jimmy Duke Arena

  • Saturday, January 25, 2020
  • John Hunt
photo by Lawson Whitaker

Baylor’s Jimmy Duke Arena was packed.  The noise level was deafening at times and it was hotter than a mid-July afternoon.

In other words, just about perfect and typical conditions for a Baylor-McCallie basketball game on a cold, winter Saturday night.

It was another classic game in one of the state’s greatest rivalries, but more importantly, it was a key region game.

The host Red Raiders won for the second time this season by a 51-45 final as they improved to 12-5 overall and 2-0 in the D-II East-Middle region while McCallie falls to 10-11 overall and 1-2 in region play.

“I want to begin by saying how proud I am of how competitive my guys are,” said Baylor coach Mark Price while sitting alone in the Red Raider dressing room following the hard-fought contest.

“It doesn’t matter if they are throwing darts, shooting pool or playing tic-tac-toe, it means so much to them to win and that’s something I can’t coach. 

“We got off to a great start shooting the ball as we have some guys who can shoot it, but we made some big free throws down the stretch when it got close.  We didn’t allow McCallie’s pressure a chance to make us cave in as we had poise with the ball and were able to keep our composure,” the veteran coach added.

McCallie coach David Conrady really likes the way his team is playing these days.  Saturday’s loss snapped a four-game winning streak, but it wasn’t because the Blue Tornado didn’t play hard.

“I thought we played our guts out as the effort was good, but our sense of urgency was a little lacking until late in the game.  We were able to cut into Baylor’s lead and got some good looks, but just weren’t able to capitalize on our opportunities,” he said matter of factly follow the game.

  “We had some nice stops on defense, but just couldn’t score on the other end.  We had our chances, but Baylor set the tempo by hitting their shots early. They were able to get comfortable and play the game the way they wanted to play.  Baylor has a really good basketball team,” Conrady complimented.

Gehrig Ebel got a 3 to start things off and Nick Kurtz followed with a steal and a slam as Baylor raced to a 5-0 lead in the opening minute.

Eric Rivers scored on a drive down the lane and Jay Hardy sank a 3 from the wing to tie the game before Trey Hamilton gave McCallie its first lead at 8-7 with 3:33 left in the opening stanza.

Eli Sparkman, who hit five 3s and led Baylor with 19 points, sank a 3 from the key at the buzzer to give Baylor a 13-10 lead at the first break.

David Craig scored on an inside move and Rivers converted a layup as McCallie took a 14-13 lead with 6:25 left in the half, but the Red Raiders scored 14 of the next 18 points for a 27-18 lead and McCallie never regained the advantage.

Joryam Saizonou scored the final three points of the half as McCallie trimmed that nine-point lead to six by intermission.

Baylor’s biggest lead came with 3:07 to play in the third when Sparkman bagged another 3 to make it 36-25 while the difference was 38-31 with one quarter remaining.

That’s when McCallie turned up the defensive pressure and made life for Baylor’s ball handlers a bit tougher.

Rivers converted a three-point play with 1:28 to play to get McCallie within three at 46-43, but Baylor sank nine straight free throws before missing its last to preserve their lead.

Saizonou scored on a putback with 47 seconds left to get McCallie within 48-45 but Kurtz scored on a layup to save the day with 35 seconds left before Ebel sank one of two free throws in the waning seconds for the final six-point margin.

Rivers scored 21 points to lead McCallie’s offense, but didn’t have much help as Saizonou and Hardy both finished with nine and seven points, respectively.

Sparkman’s 19 led Baylor while Ebel and Kurtz followed with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Both teams had an unofficial 18 rebounds apiece.  Ivan Reap didn’t score a point for Baylor, but he grabbed half of their rebounds.  Rivers had five and Hamilton four to lead McCallie.

Both teams return to action on Tuesday with out-of-town games.  McCallie travels to Scottsboro while Baylor goes to Nashville to battle MBA.

McCALLIE  10  11  10  14  --  45

BAYLOR  13  14  11  13  --  51

McCALLIE (45) – Turner, Rivers 21, Saizonou 9, Self 3, Rankin, Elliott, Hamilton 3, Hardy 7, Craig 2.

BAYLOR (51) – Sparkman 19, Johnson 2, Jean, Reap, Peciulis 8, Kurtz 10, Ebel 12, Martin.

3-POINT GOALS: McCallie 4 (Rivers, Self, Hamilton, Hardy); Baylor 8 (Sparkman 5, Ebel 3).

(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)

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