Having split a recent pair of games against regional SIAC rival Lane College – the LeMoyne Owen men narrowly won while the women narrowly lost – both teams will get another chance when they travel to Jackson, Tenn. for afternoon games on Monday, Feb. 10.
Here are the recaps from the earlier Lane games:
Women’s BB: Magicians 52, Lane Dragons 53
The Lemoyne-Owen womens basketball team fought all the way to the end last Saturday (Feb. 1) in a rivalry game against Lane College – but Lane got the 53-52 win.
“It’s bittersweet because we were down at least by 12 at one point in the game,” said LOC head coach Anthony Partee. “So I’m happy we were able to fight back and stay in the game. But I’m still a bit disappointed.”
LeMoyne-Owen was aggressive from the beginning, something Partee has called for throughout the season. Lamontazia Blair and Gabbie Morgan were in attack mode early – Morgan scored seven points to go with three rebounds; while Blair had five points and two rebounds.
But the game belonged to Lane’s Ra’keita Shelton, who had eight first-half points and a whopping eight rebounds. She finished with a double-double of 19 points and 16 rebounds. Lane lead at the half, 29-24.
In the second half, The Lady Magicians battled back, but Shelton scored with less than 10 seconds to play, sealing the win.
At TSD presstime, no results were available for Wednesday’s game against regional rival Rust College. But the Lady Magicians will get their chance for redemption on Monday, Feb. 10, when LOC takes on Lane in Jackson. Tipoff is at 1 p.m.
Men’s BB: Magicians 73, Lane Dragons 71
Bruce Johnson Hall was packed on Saturday (Feb. 1) for an SIAC rivalry game between the LeMoyne-Owen Magicians and the Lane Dragons. Fans got an exciting game, but LOC got the win, 73-71.
“(Our guys) were able to feed off our home crowd,” said LOC head coach William Anderson. “That crowd was our sixth man on the floor and really helped us out tonight. We love this crowd.”
LOC got off to a strong start, but Lane’s Brandon Mason went off for 13 first half points, sending the Dragons to the lockers with a 35-28 lead at the half.
But Tyrone Banks turned his magic on in the second half, with back-to-back shots within the first minute. Banks alongside Booker suddenly closed the scoring gap, tying the game up at 48 with 12 minutes to play.
From there, both teams put on a shooting clinic. Despite late game heroics from Lane’s Tyler Henry, who tied the game at 71 with 14 seconds to play, LeMoyne-Owen’s Jaquan Lawrence scored a buzzer-beater to win it for the Magicians.
At TSD presstime, no results were available for Wednesday’s game against regional rival Rust College. But a rematch with Lane is set for Monday, Feb. 10, in Jackson. Tipoff is at 3 p.m.
