By Nathan Deen
Published on November 21, 2007
The PJC men’s basketball team opened their conference schedule at home against Okaloosa Walton Wednesday night and lost a 93-91 heartbreaker in overtime.
Although they lead throughout the second half until the very last minute, the Pirates were unable to pull away. After committing just five first half turnovers in the first half, PJC committed 12 in the second half, most of them within the last ten minutes. With the help of Waller’s clutch 3-point shooting, and the team making frequent trips to the foul line (20/27 FT in the second half), the Raiders found themselves down by only three points with :21 remaining. After a missed attempt by Waller, guard Jeremiah Crutcher made the game tying 3-pointer with :11 remaining. PJC guard Lasha Parghalava made a last-second attempt at a lay-up but missed due to a questionable goal-tending no-call.
The Pirates did not show the same intensity in overtime that they had in regulation. After falling behind 89-82 with 1:30 remaining, they made a late attempt at a comeback, much like the one Okaloosa Walton made, but came up two points short.
“In the second half everybody cranked it up and we pulled it out somehow,” said Waller.
Okaloosa Walton head coach Bruce Stewart said that his team was fortunate to win and gives credit to his sophomores for showing leadership in the overtime victory.
Though the fans were clearly upset with the officiating on display, Swanson said it came down to PJC not executing at the end. The Pirates turned the ball over too much and failed to contain Waller from the perimeter. When asked to comment on the questionable goal-tending call, Swanson said “You’ll never get that call on the last play of the game.”
With the exception of a huge 16-0 run in the opening seven minutes of play and a late comeback by the Raiders, which forced overtime, the Pirates controlled the tempo of the game. Okaloosa Walton guard Tay Waller scored the opening 13 points for the Raiders and finished the game with an astounding 36 points (10/24 3-point FG). Waller, who PJC head coach Paul Swanson called arguably the best JUCO guard in the country, soon went cold and after being down 21-8 with 13:21 remaining in the first half, the Pirates worked their way back into the game with runs of 7-0 and 10-0. PJC took a 39-35 lead into halftime.
The Raiders had five players who scored in double figures, including Waller. Cruther had 17 points, forward Josh Hunter had 12 points, and guards Lashun Watson and Charvez Davis each had 10 points.
PJC also had five players in double figures. Eugene Blue turned out his best performance of the season as he dominated the post with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Guard Lasha Parghalava had 14 points, forward Jalin Thomas had 13 points, forward Petras Balocka had 12 points and 6 rebounds and forward Miles Taylor had 12 points.
PJC will travel Panama City on Jan. 12 to play their first conference road game against Gulf Coast Community College. Tip-off at 7:30 p.m.