Riverdale Baptist Pulls Off Late Comeback
ST. JAMES, Md. -- Riverdale Baptist erased a 14 point late third quarter deficit to upend St. John Prospect Hall, 71-65, on Friday afternoon at the St. James Invitational Tournament.
The Crusaders seemed out of it when the Vikings assumed a 51-37 lead with under two minutes to play in the third quarter.
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But Riverdale Baptist rallied behind strong fourth quarter performances from 6-3 sophomore swingman Brian Hodges and impressive 6-8 junior forward Sheray Thomas.
Thomas, who finished with 27 points, scored 10 points in the fourth quarter alone, but it was a three pointer by Hodges (14 points) that gave the lead to the Crusaders for good.
Hodges' three pointer gave Riverdale Baptist a 64-63 lead, and a strong power move inside by Thomas with 1:15 left pushed the lead to 66-63.
The Vikings pulled to within a point on a lay-in by forward Justin Battle with :42 to play, but a basket by senior forward Robert Collier and a pair of free throws from Hodges pushed the lead to five with less than 20 seconds to play.
Aaron White, an underrated 6-4 senior off guard now receiving Division I recruiting attention, led Prospect Hall with 26 points. Richard Guyvans, a steady 6-0 junior point guard, added 15 for the Vikings.
With the consolation round victory, Riverdale Baptist advanced to today's fifth place game against Laurinburg.