Basketball (W)

1/5/10- Royals Surprise Lions- Force Overtime

Fullerton, CA- Much to the surprise of #4 Vanguard, Hope International came out ready to play on Tuesday night and forced the Lions into overtime before succumbing 91-86.  Fouls play a major factor at the end and the Royals watched the game slip away as the Lions converted their free throws.  Senior Sarah Nylander led the charge from behind the three point line as she knocked 5 of the 12 made by the Royals on her way to a team high 21 points.

A snapshot of the first six minutes of the game set the table for the exciting game to come the rest of the night. 

The Royals (4-9, 0-4 GSAC) opened the scoring on two made free throws from Senior Sara Lycans-Roy.  The Lions (7-1, 3-1 GSAC) tied the score, the Royals took the lead back, and Vanguard answered with another jumper to tie the score.

Two free throws by Bridgette Reyes (who finished as the game’s leading scorer with 27 points) gave the Lions their first lead before Nylander took the lead right back with her first three pointer of the night.   A free throw and jumper force a tie and other lead change.  In all the first six minutes featured three ties and three lead changes. When all the dust settled at the end of the night, the game featured 9 ties and 11 lead changes.

It appeared the Lions were starting to take control of the game when they took a nine point lead (31-22) with 5:42 to play in the opening half.

However, the Royals responded with a 12-2 run to close out the half and take a 34-33 lead into the locker room.  Two three pointers by Nylander (14 first half points) followed by two made jumpers from Junior Kendra James sparked the run.

James was just getting warmed up as after the break she would put home 11 points.  Her rebounding played a major part as well as she grabbed 8 post break rebounds to earn her first double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

The other Royal that ate her Wheaties at the half was Sophomore Lindsay Salazar- who had just 2 points prior to the break.  She scored 14 after the break including a three pointer to push the Royals’ lead to four to start the half.  Salazar actually bookended the half with scoring as she eventually hit the game tying layup that forced the game into overtime.

In most aspects of the game the Royals matched the Lions head to head and stroke for stroke.  The Royals made one more field goal (28-27), had four more assists (17-13), and matched the Lions on the boards with 45 a piece. 

The one area that came back to haunt the Royals was fouls as they were whistled for 28 of them (Lycans-Roy fouled out and five other Royals had four).  In turn the Lions found themselves at the free throw line 14 more times than the Royals (38-24) and converted 11 more shots from the stripe which proved to be the difference in the game.

Vanguard’s Sarah Boyd was 11-12 from line and made all seven of her attempts in overtime to seal the deal.  As a team the Lions were 10-12 from the line in the extra session.

Freshman Kasey Philyaw kept the Royals close in overtime by dialing in twice from long range. She actually finished the night 3-3 from the field for 8 points.

With a game on Thursday at home against Chapman, the Royals will little time to think about what could have been.  Tip-off with the Panthers is scheduled for 5:30 pm.

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