Morris hits buzzer beater to give Hendrix women victory; Men win 67-62

Amanda Morris maneuvered out of a trap Sunday and enabled Samantha Clark to get the Hendrix Warriors out of a big hole on Garrison Court.

Under heavy pressure, Morris manufactured a makeshift pass to Clark, who quickly fired an open 12-footer with about .6 of a second left. The ball swished just as the buzzer sounded, giving the Warriors a 65-63 victory over Austin College in a must-win situation at Grove Gymnasium.

Morris. the Warriors' point guard took the inbounds pass with 6.2 seconds remaining and was double-teamed near halfcourt. It left Clark open on the wing.

"I was in the trap and I saw Sam and I just thought, 'open player, shoot, win, win win!'" said Morris.

"I wasn't thinking really, more reacting," said Clark, the only senior on the Warriors' team, after she got the ball. "We needed the win and I didn't want the game to go to overtime. I just shot it as soon as I got it. I had enough time to square to the basket. Just enough time. It was exhilarating."

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The play Hendrix coach Chris Hitchcock drew up during a timeout was designed to go to Clark.

"But it was supposed to be a layup, not a jump shot," Hitchcock said. "But Amanda got trapped and did a great job getting the ball to Clark."

"I wasn't expecting a trap," Morris said, "but the good thing about getting trapped is someone has to be open."

"I was supposed to make a cut and go backdoor to the basket,"said Clark, who had 18 points, five rebounds, eight assists and four steals. "When the trap came, I cut outside and tried to get open and Amanda got the ball to me."

The victory pulled the Warriors (9-5) even with the Lady Roos (6-7) for fourth place in the Southern Collegiate Conference West race at 2-3 with Hendrix currently having the tiebreaker. The top four teams in the division make the postseason tournament.

"We had to have this one," Hitchcock said. "Our backs are still against the wall, but after losing Friday at home (to Colorado College), we would have really been in fighting mode if we lost this one."

It also reversed a trend of Hendrix squandering leads in the final moments.

Sunday, the Warriors led by 63-55 with 4:07 left. Then, the Warriors committed six straight turnovers of assorted varieties. The Lady Roos' Spenser Cruikshank, who scored only six points, tallied four of those on back-to-back jumpers within 34 seconds to tie the game at 63 with 1:17 left. Hendrix was whistled for a palming violation, but Austin College turned the ball back over on an errant pass. When the Warriors advanced the ball to the frontcourt, Hitchcock called time with 6.2 seconds left.

"With one exception against Trinity, every single game we've lost, we've blown a led in the last minute," Hitchcock said. "We were up eight with three minutes to go against Colorado College on Friday and got beat. To lose like that again would have been devastating. I think being able to pull one out like that could be a turning point."

Clark's buzzer beater was the second for the Warriors. Conway's Katy Ashley Pauley gave the Warriors a 30-29 lead at the half with a 3-pointer from the corner with four seconds left.

Hendrix post Christina Byler added 18 points and 10 rebounds. Chsley White had 11 points and Samantha Devlin nine. Austin College post Katy Williams, the Lady Roos' leading scorer, had 19 points and nine rebounds.

MEN

One stat was glaring in Hendrix's 67-62 victory over the Roos in the men's game.

The Warriors shot 39 free throws and hit 30, giving them a 20-point edge over the visitors, who were 10 of 17. The Kangaroos made six more field goals than Hendrix.

The team with the inside emphasis prevailed over the more perimeter-oriented one.

"We did a good job getting to the line," said Hendrix coach Dan Priest, whose Warriors solidified their hold on second place in the SCAC West. "We didn't shoot the ball very well but we got to the basket."

The victory put the Warriors at 11-3 overall and 4-1 in conference, one game behind West Division leader Trinity. Austin College fell to 8-5 and 3-2.

"It's a victory within our division and those are big," Priest said.

In the tightly contested game, the Warriors got the edge on back-to-back three-point plays by Andrew King late in the game. The first layup came off a feed from Cal Rose. The second off an assist from David Foley.

That pushed the Warrior advantage to 62-51 with 3:21 left.

King, who has recurring ankle problems, left the game with an apparent ankle injury, shortly after the back-to-back drives. But his six straight points gave the Warriors a cushion that allowed them to withstand a back-to-back 3-point baskets by AC guard Kola Alade in the final 1:30. The Roos drew within 65-62 with 48.3 left.

Alade, falling away, misfired on a 3-point attempt in the final 10 seconds, a "no-call" Austin College coach Rodney Wecker strongly protested. Cal Rose hit one of two free throws to clinch the victory.

"Alade is probably the best guard in our league; he beat us on a buzzer shot last year," Priest said. "He's very difficult for players on our level to guard."

Hendrix got a lead it would never relinquish with a strong flurry in penetrating the AC defense midway through the fourth period.

Michael Bertrand drove through the defense for a layup, then Ryan Wible twisted for a three-point play. Bertrand scored again inside to push the Warriors to a 43-36 lead at 11:58.

Wible, on the inside of Hendrix's defense, later made a nice rotation to the corner to deny an open shot in the corner and force a hurried 3-point attempt by the Roos that preserved the cushion at the time.

"Wible (a senior guard) gives us some tough, steady leadership," Priest said. "He makes veteran plays."

King had 16 points and 12 rebounds while Bertrand had 16 and nine rebounds. Janson Hightower added 10 points. Alade, eight of 16 from the field, had 23 for the Roos.

Hendrix teams play on the road t his weekend against Oglethorpe and Sewanee-University of the South.