MORRISTOWN, TN -- Walters State rallied from a double-digit deficit in the first half and went on to a hard-earned 72-67 victory over a very good Chattanooga State Wednesday night in the Tennessee Community College Athletic Association opener for both teams.
It was the third victory in four games for Coach Bill Carlyle's Senators while the Tigers are now 2-2 for the season.
De'Marius Boyd poured in 27 points to lead the Senators with Ty Hurst the only other player in double figures with 15. Ronnie Thompson added nine and Destin Barker eight for Walters State.
The Tigers were led by David Ware and 6-11 James Flippin who tossed in 19 points apiece.
Chattanooga State grabbed a 20-9 lead midway of the first half behind nine points by Ware but Boyd got going offensively to spark a big Senators' rally. Boyd scored nine points as the Senators rallied to within 31-28 at halftime and then scored the first eight points of the second half to take the lead.
However, the Tigers scored seven straight to regain the lead at 45-42.
Hurst knocked down a three to tie the score and then Boyd drove for a basket that put the Senators ahead for good at 47-45 with 10:58 left in the game.
Carlyle said, "This was a big time win against a very good basketball team. They're big, they're strong and they can shoot the basketball. That big No. 30 (Flippin) can really play and can score outside as well as he can inside." Flippin hit three straight 3-pointers as the Tigers fought to get back in the game toward the end.
The coach went on to say, "And Ware can really play. They are a talented team.
"We made a lot of tactical mistakes that really hurt us," Carlyle added. "I thought going to a zone on defense kept them from getting it to their bigs as much.
"But I was proud of my guys even though I thought we made a lot of mistakes. But we have heart and we play hard.
Carlyle talked about the play of Boyd. "They were doing everything under the sun to stop him and he still played like that. He's just a talent. He comes to play and he can finish. He's just a pleasure to watch and you don't know how happy I am to have him.
"But we had some others who had really good nights tonight. Thompson played really well and Hurst had a big night. He shot it well and hit some big shots for us. Another who had a good night was Riley Cooper. He's just a warrior. He plays hard and comes out here and battles his tail off. He had some huge boards for us late in the game."
Cooper grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds as the Senators had a 43-28 backboard advantage over the bigger Tigers. Barker grabbed eight stray shots. The Tigers were led by Morrell Schramm with seven.
Walters State hit 30-of-62 from the floor for 48.4% and finished 4-of-14 behind the arc. The Senators made 8-of-12 free throws including all four attempts in the final seconds.
The Tigers finished 24-of-60 for 40% and made only 10-of-32 3-point attempts. The Tigers were 9-of-14 from the charity stripe.
After the Senators took the lead at 47-45, they pushed the margin to 60-51 with a 7-0 run that saw Hurst convert a conventional three-point play followed by a baseline jumper by Boyd. Barker closed the spurt with a layup off a great pass by Boyd.
Flippin sandwiched treys around a basket by Cooper for the Senators and it was down to 62-57. But Josh Jerome scored off a Boyd steal and then Boyd drove for another basket and the lead was back to nine.
Chattanooga rallied within 68-65 but Thompson hit two free tosses with 12.4 seconds left. The Tigers scored quickly and then fouled but Barker sank two more free throws to seal the win with 7.1 seconds left in the game.
Rob Harvey
Walters State Community College
Sports Information Director
Cell: (423) 779-8880
Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu
Website: www.ws.edu/athletics