HARTSVILLE, S.C. - Brevard pulled off an improbable comeback over the final 3:29 of Saturday's South Atlantic Conference tilt at Coker, notching a 69-64 victory and repeating a script that has become very familiar to observers of Tornados' basketball over the past two seasons.
Coker (4-4, 0-4 SAC) enjoyed its largest lead of the game on an Alex Cohen triple with 3:45 to play, building a 63-54 advantage after outscoring the Tornados (2-6, 1-2 SAC) 31-18 over the first 16-plus minutes of the second half.
It would be the Cobras' last field goal of the game.
Brevard embarked on a 15-1 run spanning the final 3:29, led by six points each from Miles Leathers and Demarcus Threatt, to stun the Cobras on their home floor and notch Brevard's first-ever win in Hartsville. The Cobras missed their last five shots from the field and had a crucial turnover inside the last 10 seconds.
Leathers initiated the decisive sequence with a shot in the paint and had a chance for a three-point play after a foul was called. His free throw was off the mark, but an offensive rebound led to a Threatt layup and a four-point possession for Brevard.
The lead was cut to two points with three of Evan Dunham's career-high seven points with 2:32 remaining. After the teams combined to miss their next three shots, Threatt banked in another layup to knot the game at 63 with 1:01 to play. Roman Hall made one of two free throws on the other end to return the lead to Coker.
Leathers made sure the Cobras' advantage would be short-lived. Brevard's possession began with 30.3 seconds on the clock and a 0.3-second differential between the shot and game clocks, giving the Tornados an opportunity to effectively hold for the final shot. But Leathers coolly took a pass from Dunham a step beyond the top of the key and drew nothing but twine, providing the game's seventh and final lead change.
Coker came up empty on the ensuing possession after a Threatt steal, then compounded its predicament by committing an intentional foul. Brevard, which has struggled at the charity stripe this season and had gone just 11-for-21 at the free throw line on the afternoon, made three of its four free throws on the possession to ice the victory.
Threatt was Brevard's top performer, shooting a season-best 60.0 percent (9-for-15) from the floor and collecting his fifth straight 20-point effort with a game-high 24 in just 25 minutes of action. Coker's Donte Samuels, a preseason second team all-conference selection, missed his third straight game due to injury. Fifteen Coker players saw action in his absence, leading to a 28-12 disparity in bench points.
Brevard held a 38-24 advantage in the paint and parlayed eight offensive rebounds into 12 second chance points. Alex Moe narrowly missed his third double-double of the season with eight points and nine rebounds, three of them on the offensive glass. Leathers contributed three of his seven boards on the offensive end, tied a career high with six steals, and notched four assists for the fourth time this season.
Leathers now has 973 career points, 27 shy of becoming the fourth NCAA-era Tornado to reach the 1,000-point milestone. His four assists make him the second NCAA-era player to surpass 200 in his career and leave him four shy of equaling Dominique Pickett's 205 for the NCAA-era lead. He needs three steals to surpass Josh Roper for tops in the record books.
The Tornados have a quick turnaround to prepare for a well-rested Lincoln Memorial squad, which enters its matchup with Brevard as the nation's 16th-ranked team. Monday's tipoff between the Tornados and Railsplitters will take place at 4:00 p.m. and will be the first game of a doubleheader with the women's teams.
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Featured image courtesy of Neil Hayes. Click here to view more photos by Neil.
