Pioneers Lose In Overtime
It was the tie breaker game between the two teams with Indian River winning the first contest on January 10th 77-71 and Eastern winning the February 1st match up 83-74. The game lived up to the hype with the Pioneers losing in overtime 90-85.
Elijah Farley (5'8" Guard, Orlando, FL) started the game off with one of his six three-point baskets to give IRSC the first points of the game. Shaun Willett (6'4" Guard, Palm Bay, FL) kept the offense going by dishing the ball to Willy Nunez (6'6" Guard, Orlando FL) for a three-point basket and adding a couple of nifty lay-ups to give the Pioneers a 12-9 lead at the 15 minute mark. IRSC had a ten point lead 25-15 with 10 minutes to go in the first half, but several quick shots and missed defensive assignments allowed Eastern to take a one point lead into the half, 42-41. "We shared the ball much better in the first half compared to several of our past games, but needed to convert on some of the easy looks we had at the basket," commented Pioneer Head Coach Charlie Wilson.
Eastern went on a 9 -0 run to start the second half and built their lead to 51-41, but back-to-back three point baskets by Nunez and a break away slam dunk by Jaylin Stewart (6'7" Forward, Tallassee, FL) tied the score at 53 all. Eastern took a 71-61 advantage with 5:40 to go in the ballgame, but Elijah Farley connected on a three point basket to start the IRSC comeback. The Pioneers went on their own 9-0 run capped off by a Willett breakaway slam dunk to pull within 1, 71-70 with 2:08 seconds left on the clock. Stewart hit a big three-pointer with 39.1 seconds left in the game to give IRSC the two point lead, but a driving layup by Eastern with 23 seconds tied the score. The Pioneers had one more shot to win the game, but Nunez's three-pointer rolled in and out at the buzzer.
Eastern took the early lead in the overtime, but IRSC continued to battle back recapturing the lead 79-78 with 2:30 to go. A lay-up and three pointer gave Eastern the lead for good. Scoring leaders for IRSC were Nunez with 28 points followed by Farley with 21. The loss drops the Pioneers record to 17-9 overall and 8-5 in the conference. "I was proud of how we pulled together as a team, If we can continue to be unselfish we will have a strong finish to our season," stated Coach Charlie Wilson.
They will be at home on February 18th for a 2 p.m. match up with Broward College. The game will be Sophomore Recognition Night. Before the game the Pioneers' sophomores; Willy Nunez, Jaylin Stewart, Shaun Willett, Elijah Farley, Devon Collins, Joshua Oliver, and Andrew Anderson will be honored.