BRYANT — Bryant's second meeting with Conway had all the makings of a repeat performance, right up until the final result.
That, much to the relief of Hornets Coach Mark Smith, was different from the first time around.
Bryant scored a 54-52 victory against the Wampus Cats on Friday, keeping the Hornets safely in the middle of the 7A-Central standings.
Bryant (14-10, 6-4) had fallen to the Wampus Cats 62-49 in overtime Jan. 15 despite leading for almost the entire game. Friday, the Hornets again found themselves leading Conway most of the way, only to once again sweat out a second-half charge.
"Same scenario, almost the same format," Smith said. "This time, we hit our free throws down the stretch and got some defensive stops when we needed them."
A three-pointer by Andrew Tilley in the last 20 seconds of the second half gave the Hornets a 24-15 halftime lead, highlighting a second quarter in which Bryant held the Wampus Cats (16-8, 7-4) to five points and one field goal.
Conway responded by scoring the first nine points of the third quarter and outscoring Bryant 12-2 over the first four minutes of the period.
"Last time we played them, we were up eight at halftime," Smith said. "They came out and did the same thing, just like gangbusters. And we came out flat."
Bryant built a lead back on two three-pointers early in the fourth quarter, one from Chad Knight and another from Tim Floyd.
Floyd, a forward, scored a game-high 22 points.
Conway stayed near in the final minutes thanks to the work of Austin Mitchell, who hit a threepointer to cut Bryant's lead to 44-41 with 1:46 left.
Mitchell later hit three consecutive free throws after being fouled on another three-point attempt, making the score 50-47 and keeping it a one-possession game for Conway.
That changed when the Hornets hit 3 of 4 free throws in the final 17 seconds.
CONWAY (52) Purifoy 4 7-9 15, Martin 2 0-2 5, Mitchell 6 3-5 19, Garner 0 0-0 0, McNeaill 3 3-4 9, Tidwell 2 0-3 4, McKnight 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 13-23 52.
BRYANT (54) Cowart 1 4-5 7, Lewis 0 4-6 4, Knight 2 4-4 9, Masters 1 4-4 6, Floyd 7 5-5 22, Benton 0 4-4 4, Tilley 1 0-0 2. Totals 12 25-28 54.
Conway (16-8) ................. 10 5 12 25 - 52 Bryant (14-10) .................. 11 13 5 25 - 54 Three-point goals - Conway, 5 (Mitchell 4, Martin); Bryant, 5 (Floyd 3, Cowart, Knight). Team fouls - Conway, 18. Bryant, 20. Fouled out - Bryant, Cowart.
GIRLS CONWAY 58, BRYANT 44
Na'Dra Robertson scored a game-high 16 points to lead Conway (20-3, 9-2) to a victory at Bryant. Katy Ashley-Pauley added 12 points for the Lady Cats, and Constance Alcon had 11. Hannah Goshien led Bryant (10-13, 0-11) with 15 points, and Alana Morris had 11.
Sports, Pages 26 on 02/09/2008