La Porte, IN - The visiting Saints of Holy Cross (6-9, 2-2) shot 83.3% on five of six shooting in overtime and edged out the host Panthers (2-14, 1-3) in CCAC Conference action on Wednesday night 84-77. Kyle Sanders' (Knox, Indiana) double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds was not enough to slow the Saints' march down the stretch.
Both teams swapped leads back and forth through the game's early minutes until the Panthers went on a 11-2 run midway through the first half to go up 29-20 at the 5:42 mark. The Saints countered with a 11-4 run to end the half, while the Panthers took a 33-31 into the break.
The Panthers opened the second half with a 16-6 run to climb to their largest lead of the game at 49-39 with 13:00 left to play. The Saints surged back and grabbed a 68-63 lead over the Panthers with 59.4 seconds to play before a Nick Neal 3-point basket from the top of the key with 8.9 seconds remaining in regulation tied the score at 68-68.
In the overtime the Panthers could not keep pace and match the Saints field goals and free throws. The Saints closed out the game with an 8-1 run while knocking down clutch free throws to preserve the 84-77 victory.
The Saints Taylor Williams and Adam Dobrzykowski each recorded a double-double for the Saints, respectively recording 19 points and 13 rebounds, and 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Senior guard Nick Neal (Detroit, MI) led all scorers with 24 points. Junior guard Alphonse Futch (Indianapolis, IN) tallied 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Freshman forward David Kelly registered six points and led the Panthers in rebounding with 11 boards.
Sanders' 21 points came off of three of five shooting from behind the arc and eight of 12 shooting overall at a 66.7 percent clip for the game. Sanders also led the Panthers is assist with 3.
The Panthers will face Trinity Christian College (7-10, 2-2) in a CCAC Conference showdown on Saturday, January 7th at 7:00pm CST at the La Porte Civic Auditorium.
