CONWAY -- Another late rally enabled Conway to pick up its second consecutive come-from-behind victory.
Sophomore guard Caleb London put back his own missed shot just before the final buzzer sounded to allow the Wampus Cats to beat previously unbeaten Bentonville West 58-56 during the John Stanton Classic on Saturday at Buzz Bolding Arena in Conway.
London finished with a game-high 18 points for Conway (7-2), which trailed 53-48 with three minutes left. Junior forward Terry Clardy added 15 points while senior center Blake Bradshaw had 12 points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocked shots.
"Two pretty good teams in what was just a hard-nosed game," Conway Coach Brian Longing said. "Somebody's gotta win, and fortunately it was us. That last play kinda broke down, but Caleb did a good job of following his shot and sticking it back in there.
"This is definitely a good way for us to go into the Christmas break."
Conway had to fight back just like it did against Van Buren on Friday night. The Wampus Cats were down late in the fourth quarter of that game but got a three-pointer from junior guard Lerome Thompson with 7.9 seconds left to help pull out a 52-48 victory. On Saturday, Conway led by as many as nine points in the first half and held a 47-42 advantage at the start of the fourth quarter, but an 11-1 run by Bentonville West put the hosts in a hole.
"Trying to find ways to win down the stretch certainly helps you going forward into your conference season," Longing said. "You're going to have to earn every single point you get against Bentonville West because they're extremely physical, and they're very well-coached. We got down and found ourselves having to claw back."
London's floater started an 8-0 spurt for Conway, but Bentonville West (7-1) managed to tie the game at 56-56 on two free throws from senior guard Gabe Hornsby with 27 seconds left.
The Wampus Cats took the ensuing possession and ran the clock down to 9.9 seconds before Longing called a timeout to draw up a final play. London took the inbounds pass, drove to the right side of the lane and lofted a shot that fell just short, but he quickly grabbed the rebound and banked it in off the glass. All three officials agreed London got off the shot in time.
The Wampus Cats, who led 19-11 after the first quarter but had to settle for 32-28 lead at halftime, shot 19 of 41 and outrebounded the Wolverines 26-23. Senior guard Collier Blackburn, who nailed 3 three-pointers during a key stretch in the third quarter, ended with 14 points and senior forward Boston Barron had 11 for Bentonville West, which went 17 of 36 from the field but turned the ball over 15 times.
BENTONVILLE WEST (56)
Collin Blackburn 1 4-4 6, Hornsby 1 4-7 6, Bailey 3 1-2 9, Wilmot 0 0-0 0, Larsen 2 0-0 4, Collier Blackburn 5 1-2 14, H. Swoboda 2 2-2 6, Barron 3 5-6 11. Totals 17 17-23 56.
CONWAY (58)
Thomas 0 0-0 0, London 7 3-6 18, Tolliver 0 0-0 0, Thompson 0 0-0 0, Drake 0 0-0 0, Ashby 0 1-2 1, Lowe 2 5-5 9, Bradshaw 5 2-5 12, Kaiser 1 1-1 3, Clardy 4 7-8 15. Totals 19 19-27 58.
Bentonville West (7-1);13;15;14;14;-;56
Conway (7-2);19;13;15;11;-;58
Three-point goals -- Bentonville West 5 (Collier Blackburn 3, Bailey 2), Conway 1 (London 1). Totals fouls -- Bentonville West 21, Conway 22. Fouled out -- Collier Blackburn
Sports on 12/17/2017