MORRISTOWN, TN – De'Marius Boyd has been clutch for the Walters State men's basketball team all season and carried that over into Wednesday night's game against Roane State.
With the Senators trailing by a point and just seconds remaining in overtime, Boyd rose up from well beyond the 3-point line and fired a shot with a hand in his face.
Swish.
Boyd's 3-pointer with 3.9 seconds left proved to be the difference as Walters State held on, taking down Roane State 78-76.
The win was head coach Bill Carlyle's 900th as coach of the Senators and his 1,122 as a head coach. Walters State improved to 4-1 with the victory and 3-1 in conference play.
"By and large, we came out here with a win," Carlyle said. "We need to do a better job of making our 3's. But all and all, it's a win. That was a good basket from Boyd. We are just going to move on to the next one."
Walters State was led in the game by Boyd, who had 26 points including the game-winning 3-pointer. Boyd had 10 of the teams 14 points in overtime and went 4-4 from the field.
Along with Boyd, Tylar Haynes had 18 points on 7-11 shooting and grabbed five rebounds. Deovaunta Williams added 10 points while Riek Riek led the team with nine rebounds to go with five points.
Despite the offensive output, however, it was the defense that kept Walters State in the game for the first half as the offense started off slow.
The Senators held Roane State to just eight made field goals in the first half and 23 points. They also forced 10 turnovers.
"I thought in the first half by and large, we played really good defense," Carlyle said. "We just couldn't score. But our defense was excellent and allowed us to hang in there. They shot 23% in the first half, and they normally shoot 57%. When you do that, you do a really good job."
It was a pretty even first half as both defenses played well and there was never much separation. With 7:07 to go in the half, Roane actually built a seven-point lead before the Senators cut it to one with baskets from Gum Majek and Boyd and two free throws from Boyd.
The Senators eventually would tie the game at 21 with a 3-pointer from Deng Agoth with three minutes to go. From there, both teams made just one field goal each and it was 23-23 at the break.
In the second half, the offenses broke out of their slump as the Senators began asserting their authority early. After Roane State took a 32-31 lead, Walters State took over and as Haynes six straight in the paint. Jermize Weddle banged home a 3-pointer after Haynes' run and the lead was 46-37.
The Senators got that margin up to 11 with two Boyd free throws, but Roane State would not go away and continued to fight. Walters State had a two-point lead with 25 seconds remaining, but Roane State would make a shot with just four seconds left to send the game to overtime.
In overtime, it was the Boyd and Haynes show as they scored all 14 points for the Senators. The two teams went back-and-forth with Roane State never leading but never far off. Then, with just 12 seconds left, the Raiders made a layup to take a 76-75 lead.
However, following a timeout, it was Boyd who ended the game and gave Walters State the win.
UP NEXT:
Walters State will be back in action on Saturday, travelling to Chattanooga State for a conference matchup. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. In the two teams first meeting, the Senators were victorious 96-82.
Rob Harvey
Walters State Community College
Sports Information Director
Cell: (423) 779-8880
Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu
Website: www.ws.edu/athletics