Palacios Helps Our Savior Survive

In the last meeting between these two talented basketball programs, Our Savior came from almost twenty points down to defeat Lutheran Christian Academy in the Rim Rocker final held right after the New Year. So Lutheran Christian Academy had revenge on its minds when they played Our Savior this weekend. And they almost got it.

Juan Palacios scored 10 points and Our Savior got a great effort by D'Andre Brown, who came off the bench to score an additional 10 points, to spark Our Savior to a 54-53 win.

Lutheran held a 16-12 first quarter lead but Palacios knocked down two three-pointers in the second to give Our Savior a 31-30 advantage at the half. The lead stretched to 44-36 after three as Oumar Sylla slammed home a missed shot with four seconds left.

However, Lutheran closed the gap to 51-48 as Jamual Warren made a stal and a basket with 3:33 left in the fourth. Marvin Kilgore hit a three-pointer with 20.6 seconds left to cut the lead to 54-53. Palacios missed the first of a one-and-one with 10.5 seconds.

Lutheran called timeout with 8.2 seconds left and set up a play. Maurice Maxwell drove the right baseline and appeared to have been hit hard. His shot bounced off the rim, Maxwell fell to the ground hard, and Our Savior had a win. "We had our chances," Lutheran Christian head coach Darryl Schofield said. "It was a tough call at the end. It was a foul. We had our chances too."

True. They did have their chances and it could have easily been called a foul. But Our Savior goes to 23-5 and Lutheran falls to 19-6.