by Nathan Deen
Published on January 8, 2008
The PJC Pirates out-rebounded The Tallahassee Eagles 61-29 in Tuesday’s conference match-up and yet lost the game 78-75. The difference in the game was the Eagles’ performance on the foul line as they made 23 of 29 attempts while the Pirates made only 10 of 19.
“They won the game from the free throw line,” said PJC head coach Paul Swanson. Swanson, disappointed in the loss, added that if PJC had made more free throws, they would have won the game.
PJC also continued some negative game trends. The Pirates committed 21 turnovers that resulted in 24 points for the Eagles. Also, they let their opponent jump out to a big lead.
Tallahassee started the game with a 14-3 run in the first four minutes of play. With 11:33 remaining in the first half, Miles Taylor sparked a 10-0 run with a lay-up. Up 21-19, Tallahassee then went on a 8-0 run to pull ahead by 10. PJC answered with another 10-0 run to tie the game. Tallahassee led 34-33 at halftime.
The first eight minutes of the second half was filled with lead changes until Tallahasse went on runs of 9-0 and 8-0 to take a 61-46 lead with 9:51 remaining. PJC slowly chipped away at the lead and ended up with a chance to win the game. The Pirates cut the lead to 5, 76-71 with :31 seconds remaining. Guard Jadarren Mumpfield made a 3-pointer to make it a two point game. With 12 seconds left, Jalin Thomas managed to make it to the free throw line with the score 76-74. Thomas made only one out of the two attempts while Tallahassee made two more free throws to pull ahead by three and PJC was unable to force overtime on the last possession.
PJC Forward Petras Balocka had a game-high 19 rebounds to go along with his 17 rebounds. Forward Miles Taylor had 16 points and 8 rebounds and guard Lasha Parghalava had 15 points (3/5 3-point FG).
Tallahassee guard Jermaine Dixon led the Eagles with 18 points (7/8 FT).
The Pirates (12-7, 0-3) will return home to face No. 1 ranked Chipola on Saturday. Tip-off at 7:30 p.m.