Bulldogs nip T-Birds in OT
January 17, 2020

Bulldogs nip T-Birds in OT

NEWS-SUN STAFF REPORT

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EDUARDO MIRANDA/NEWS-SUN

Thunderbird forward Terence Lewis goes for a layup but is blocked from behind by Clarendon College's Esahia Nyiwe in the first half Tuesday night in Caster Activity Center. The Thunderbirds lost to the Bulldogs 79-75 in overtime.

The New Mexico Junior College men's basketball team rallied late and forced overtime, but came up short in its bid to beat Clarendon College Thursday night as the Thunderbirds lost 79-75 to the Bulldogs.

The T-Birds led 38-36 at the break, thanks to 16 points from Keaton Hervey and nine from Antonio Bridy. Coming out of the break, NMJC pushed its lead to 42-38 before allowing Clarendon to knot the game at 42-all. However, thanks to a couple of three-pointers from Gideon George and Bridy, the T-Birds went back up by six.

With 12:46 left in the game, NMJC led by as many as seven, but couldn't hold the lead. Clarendon eventually tied the game at 56-56 and then took a 57-56 lead with 9:04 to play. The teams traded the lead over the next couple of minutes before Clarendon went out in front 59-58. Then, with 2:37 left, the T-Birds suddenly trailed 65-60.

With eight seconds left, NMJC still trailed 69-67 and the T-Birds took a time out, drawing up the play they wanted. That timeout proved to be successful as NMJC got the ball into the hands of Bridy who sank a buzzer-beating layup to tie the game at 69-all and force overtime.

Unfortunately for the T-Birds, overtime was not its friend as the Bulldogs outscored the home team 10-6, sending NMJC to its second Western Junior College Athletic Conference loss of the season.

Bridy had 14 points in the second half and overtimes, finishing with a game-high 23 points, while playing off the bench. As for Hervey, he had just four points after the break, finishing with 20 for the game. Terence Lewis and George each had eight rebounds for the T-Birds.

With the loss, NMJC falls to 14-6 on the season and 4-2 in WJCAC play. The T-Birds will be back in action on Monday when NMJC hosts Frank Phillips College. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.