Indians knock off Three Rivers in 79-77 thriller

Indians knock off Three Rivers in 79-77 thriller
Adam Gore/LetsGoICC.com

FULTON, MS – Freshman Demarcius Bracey (Ruleville Central) made his collegiate debut in a big way scoring 11 points and grabbing 13 rebounds while tipping in the game winning shot in the Indians' 79-77 victory over national powerhouse Three Rivers Community College on Monday.

"We came in knowing it was going to be a really tough game," said ICC head coach Grant Pate. "Three Rivers has a long history of championships and Coach [Gene] Bess is a Hall of Fame coach, but I felt like our guys just stepped up to the challenge."

Sophomore transfer Alex Anderson (Memphis, TN) scored a team-high 25 points while Johnthan McGee (Raymond) added 22 in the victory.

McGee tied the game, 77-77, when he knocked down one-of-two free throws, but when Three Rivers (4-1) grabbed the rebound and knocked it out of bounds with 9 seconds left in regulation.

After an Indian timeout, McGee drove the lane and got a good look at the potential game-winning shot, but missed off the back iron allowing Bracey to tip-in the rebound with 1.9 seconds remaining in the game.

"We work hard at practice every day," said Bracey. "We work on tip-in drills every day during practice and that had me in the right position to be able to get an easy put-back."

The Raiders attempted to throw the ball the length of the floor, but Bracey deflected the inbounds pass allowing the Indians to celebrate the thrilling 79-77 victory over the previously unbeaten Raiders.

"The guys kept fighting all night long," said Pate. "Everybody participated and everybody contributed to this win… I am thankful for the effort and the environment that help motivate the guys and made this a very tough place to play."

Lakee Westbrook (Shannon) had 6 points with fellow freshmen Kevis Fleming (Rosa Fort) and Austin Timms (Mooreville) added 4 each and Tay Crawford (Aberdeen) add 3 while redshirt freshman Randy Brown also had 4 points in the win.

The Indians will open up a four-game road stretch at Snead State Community College on Thursday night and will close out November with road trips to Shelton State Community College, Jones County Junior College, and Meridian Community College.

"It's going to be tough road the rest of the month," Grant commented. "We looked at it when we were scheduling the season and knew we were going to have some young teams this year and one of the best way for teams to grow up is to put them through some adversity. We'll experience a lot of adversity going on the road, but hopefully that will help us to grow up and to continue grow together."

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