ARKANSAS ALUMNI CLASSIC

North Pulaski overcomes its mistakes

The growing pains may have continued during North Pulaski’s game against Maumelle on Saturday, but winning gave Falcons Coach Roy Jackson a reason to smile by game’s end.

The Falcons opened up a double-digit lead midway through the second quarter and never let up in beating the Hornets 61-45 in the Arkansas Alumni Classic at Philander Smith College.

“A win is a win, but we made a lot of mistakes, especially down the stretch,” Jackson said. “We’re still kind of young, and we’re trying to get them ready for later on. We hurt ourselves late with turnovers, but for the most part they did what I wanted them to do.

“When you win you really can’t complain, so I’m pleased.”

Arren Scruggs led North Pulaski (3-1) with a game-high 13 points. Fred Thomas, Aaron Williamson and RaShawn Langston all chipped in with eight points each. In all, 10 different players scored for the Falcons.

Nick Cox scored nine points to lead Maumelle, which hurt its chances of winning by turning the ball over 21 times. The Hornets were also outrebounded 34-24 and hit only 15 of its 41 shots from the floor.

Conversely, the Falcons were 28-of-56 shooting and never trailed in the game but allowed Maumelle to hang around in the second half before pulling away late.

North Pulaski scored the game’s first eight points and led by as many as 18 late in the second quarter. Scruggs knocked down a 15-footer to start the third quarter to give the Falcons a 39-24 lead. After baskets from JB Minix and Tyshun Robinson trimmed the Hornets’ deficit to 11, Langston’s short jumper started a quick 6-0 spurt to keep Maumelle at a distance.

Still, the Hornets were able to capitalize off a rash of turnovers to get within 10 on three separate occasions, but Maumelle was unable to knock down the shot it needed to get any closer.

The Hornets trailed 49-39 to start the fourth but missed their first nine shots of the quarter.

Maumelle didn’t hit its first field goal of the period until 2:29 remained in thegame. By that time, North Pulaski had a 16-point cushion and was well on its way to victory.

“We still got a lot to work on - rushing shots, bad clock management, things like that,” Jackson said. “But the best thing about it is that those types of things are correctable.” MEMPHIS ACADEMY 51, BLYTHEVILLE 41

Antonio Maddox scored 11 of his game-high 19 points in the second half of the Lions’ 10-point victory. Jamie Coleman added 17 points, including 12 in a pivotal quarter that saw Memphis Academy (2-2) outscore Blytheville 20-8. Darius Furlow scored 13 points and Larry Bolden had 12 points to lead the Chickasaws.

MILLS 64, E-STEM 31

Calen Peters scored 12 points and Omar Avance added 10 to carry the Comets (2-2) to a easy victory over the Mets (2-5). Mills jumped out to a huge lead and cruised to a victory one day after suffering a 15-point loss to Little Rock Parkview.

Sports, Pages 29 on 12/01/2013

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