A last-second, buzzer-beating three-pointer by Muhlenberg County sent Grayson County’s Cougars down to a 56-53 defeat Saturday in the Cougar Den. The shot erased an 18-2 fourth-quarter Cougar run that took them from a ten-point deficit to a six-point lead with under three minutes to play.
There were two ties and three lead changes in the first period which ended with the Mustangs holding a one-point lead, 13-12. The Mustangs led by as many as five points in the second period, 17-12 at the 5:39 mark, but a Keegan Sharp three-pointer with 1.6 seconds left tied the score 22-22 at the half.
A lay-in by Muhlenberg’s Asher Carver with 1:12 left in the third quarter gave the Mustangs a 10-point lead, 36-26. They still led by 10, 38-28 heading into the final period of play.
The Mustangs led 40-30 following two Brayden Lovan free throws at the 7:13 mark when the Cougars started their run. Two Brayden Childress free throws with 3:41 left to play gave the Cougars a 43-42 lead, their first lead since 12-11 with 1:41 left in the first period.
A rebound basket by Chandler McCrady with 3:16 left was followed by three free throws from Sharp at 2:57 to give the Cougars a six-point lead, 48-42. The Mustangs followed with an 8-0 run to retake the lead, 50-48 with 1:34 remaining.
McCrady hit a pair of free throws with 1:25 left to tie things at 50-50, but Nash Divine scored on a lay-up with 53 seconds left to put the Mustangs back on top. Following a Cougar turnover, Cole Vincent hit one-of-two at the line to put the Mustangs ahead by three, 53-50 with 37.7 seconds left.
The Cougars then worked the ball around until there were seven seconds left when McCrady launched a three from the right corner that found nothing but net to tie things 53-53.
The Mustangs took the ball out and moved up the court and were just about to put up a shot from half-court, when they were granted a timeout. The clock said :00.8 seconds left, but after a discussion, the officials moved the clock to 1.2 seconds remaining.
Taking the ball out at mid-court, the Mustangs sent Vincent through a double screen under their own basket and sent him out to the right wing, where he caught the inbound pass, whirled and put up a shot that sailed through the net as the buzzer sounded, giving the Mustangs the win.
Divine led the Mustangs with 16 points, Vincent finished with 14 and Isaac Rose added 10.
McCrady led all scorers with a career-high 22 points and Sharp had 15. River Blanton joined those two in double figures with 10 points and he added six rebounds. Three players, Childress, Dillon Horn and Hunter Tomes, all had two points to round out the Cougar scoring. Tomes led the team on the glass with seven rebounds.
By Don Brown, Local Sports
Reach Don at donbrown@k105.com
