Pirates Win Barn Burner In Malone 12/18/08

By Clint Cox
The Roy B. Beall Gymnasium was rocking last Thursday (also see Simply Put) night as Sneads and Malone battled for four quarters and that was still not enough. The Pirates caught some wind in their sails and pulled out a thrilling 75-71 overtime win against the host Tigers. Malone held a lead late in regulation but Kendell Clayton’s NBA style 3 pointer with five seconds to play tied the game at 66-66 and sent it into overtime.
Sneads held an early lead but the Tigers came back to tie the game at 15-15 on a three pointer by Ladarius McElroy. By halftime however Sneads had pulled back out to a 26-22 lead. Malone got hot in the third quarter and Mike Peak came up with some big baskets and gave the Tigers a two point lead. McElroy drained another 3 pointer and Malone led 43-38. But a Sherrick Williams basket pulled the Pirates to within 3 points going into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter Malone poured it on as Peak and Aaron Conrad were nailing 3 pointers from all sides. The Tigers led 53-41 with six minutes to play in the game. But the Pirates rallied as Terrance Pittman got the hot hand, scoring 9 points in the last three minutes. Allen Patterson made it a one point game with a Sneads basket with 32 seconds to play but the Tigers countered with a basket by Peak to make it 66-63 with 13 seconds left. That’s when Clayton sent the Pirate fans into a frenzy with his long range bomber to tie the game. In overtime Jamar White was the hero as he gave the Pirates a 72-68 lead with back to back buckets. Conrad drilled another 3 pointer to get Malone back to within one with less than a minute to play. Sneads got a basket from Patterson and a free throw from Pittman to nail down the hard fought road win.
Sneads was led by Williams with 21 points, Pittman with 13 and Neel with 10. Malone was led by Conrad with 22 points, Peak with 20 points and McElroy with 10. In JV action the Pirates continued their winning ways, improving to 6-1, with a 44-32 win over the junior Tigers. Trevin Hall led Sneads with 14 points while John Whittington followed with 11. Malone was led by Rodgers with 10 and Chai Baker with 9.