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Hurricane waste lead in loss to Jackals

OBSERVER Photo by Lisa Monacelli Chautauqua’s Geno Green (6) goes up for a shot during his teams’s PBL game against the Jamestown Jackyls on Saturday at Brocton High School.

BROCTON — For the fourth time in as many games, the Chautauqua Hurricane (7-7) led the Jamestown Jackals (6-5) entering the fourth quarter.

For the fourth time in as many games, the Jackals managed to chip away at the lead and come away with a win, this time a 93-92 victory in Premier Basketball League action Saturday at Brocton High School.

The Hurricane held a 90-85 lead with a minute left when Jackals’ guard Jordan Bowling hit a 3-pointer to bring the score to 90-88.

Following a layup by the Hurricane’s Tayquan Stroman at the other end, Jamestown struck again, this time it was Kevin Crescenzi who hit a 3 to cut the deficit to a single point, 92-91.

Edwin Ubiles then missed a jumper for the Hurricane with 35 seconds remaining, which appeared to set up a go-ahead opportunity for the Jackals, but an offensive foul was called on Crescenzi while bringing the ball up the floor put the ball back in the hands of the Hurricane.

With under 30 seconds left, and a one-point lead, it appeared the Hurricane were poised to pick up their first win over Jamestown, but a missed basket turned into quick transition the other way.

Jamestown’s Christian Davis raced up the floor and drove to the basket with approximately 15 seconds left. His layup rattled off the rim, but Chiza Ntirata was there to tip the ball in for a 93-92 lead.

Ubiles once again had an opportunity as time ran out when he pulled up from the top of the key, but the shot fell just short, setting of a raucous celebration by the Jackals.

“It’s all about intensity,” Jackals coach Kayla Crosby said about her team’s come-from-behind win. “It’s in the heart. The guys came out and played hard when we needed them to and it shows in the score. We switched up our defense in the second half and went to a full-court press to get some steals and easy transition points. Stops and scores. That’s what was important in the second half.”

“Obviously in the first half we played some really good basketball,” Hurricane coach Jerome Moss said. “We were flat on our shooting in the second half. Then Jamestown found their groove and it was a war from there. The press didn’t bother us; we broke it easily. We just weren’t hitting shots. Once we stopped hitting shots they picked up their momentum and really got back into the game.”

It was all Hurricane early as the home team built a 27-12 lead after the first quarter thanks to good ball movement and a pair of crowd-pleasing dunks.

The hot shooting continued in the second. Chautauqua’s lead grew to 16 points early in the third and was never less than double digits en route to a 50-34 halftime score.

In the second half, things began to change for the Jackals, who went to a press defense in an attempt to provide a spark.

Chautauqua never struggled to break the press, but once they set up their halfcourt offense, the baskets just wouldn’t fall.

Jamestown opened the third with a 12-6 run and cut the lead to single digits midway through the period.

Ubiles continually sank buckets when the rest of the Hurricane were struggling, but even the former Washington Wizard couldn’t single-handedly hold off Jamestown.

While the third period felt like it was all Jamestown, the Hurricane still took a 71-62 lead into the fourth.

Poor shooting and execution haunted the Hurricane for the fist six minutes of the quarter while Chautauqua failed to score a single basket. In that time, Jamestown hacked away at the deficit and took the lead, 72-71, for the first time since the opening minutes.

Over the next six minutes it was the Edwin Ubiles show, as the Hurricane star scored 15 points in an attempt to take over and put the game away.

Unfortunately for Chautauqua, Jamestown had other plans.

Six points by Christian Davis, a bucket by Michael Davenport and a pair of 3’s by Bowling and Crescenzi brought the score to 92-91, setting up the last-second heroics.

“We weren’t playing good basketball in the first half,” Crosby said. “We weren’t working together, weren’t getting rebounds and we weren’t scoring. It was a complete turnaround in the second half. This team’s focus down the stretch was amazing. Once they saw the score going up and the time going down they really came together when it mattered most.”

Ubiles led all scorers with 36 points along with six rebounds and seven assists. Geno Green and Stroman each added 10 points in the loss while Stroman finished with 10 rebounds for the double-double.

Ntirata led Jamestown with 18 points. Davis added 13 points eight rebounds and seven assists while Crescenzi finished with 10 points and four assists.

Up next for the Hurricane is a Saturday, March 4 matchup against the Ohio Bootleggers in Brocton.

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