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DENIED: Flight Controllers nix 72 MDG comeback

  • Published
  • By John Parker
  • Staff Writer
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE Okla., --  The top-flight Flight Controllers preserved their unblemished season last week with a last-second basket to win by a point over heavy contenders 72 MDG in the Monday-Wednesday League.

Flight Controllers, 8-0, led 72 MDG the entire game until the last 5.5 seconds when Med Group stunningly seized the lead 55-54 by turning around an 11-point deficit in the last two minutes.

Trailing 54-43 with 2:05 left, Med Group regrouped with a timeout and launched a high-tempo full-court press that generated a dozen unanswered points. Flight Controllers, dogged by intense defense, blew scoring chances on missed foul shots and two out-of-bound slip-ups.

Team captain Zhamar McAdory started off 72 MDG's point blitz, spotting an opening for a fast layup. Terrance Coopwood added a trey from the wing, followed by a corner 3-pointer and an inside drive for two from McAdory.

McAdory then sank two foul shots to put 72 MDG on top by a point, prompting a Flight Controllers "T" at 5.5 seconds.

During Med Group's earlier timeout before the dozen points, McAdory told his teammates to tighten up on defense, he said.

"I said we have no other choice but to do so if we would like to win this game - get quick quality shots off and foul if we need to," he said.

On the game's final play, 72 MDG players set up in their court. Controllers captain Cedric Street rolled the ball from the baseline to Ryan Hytche near half-court. Hytche dribbled to the MDG right wing before zipping the ball to Michael McCray - unguarded in the paint. An easy layup followed by the buzzer sealed the Flight Controllers' 56-55 victory.

Street said the final play was designed for Hytche to attack the basket - unless there was an open man. "That happened to be McCray," he said.

McAdory ascribed the open shooter mistake to a "mental breakdown at a critical moment in the game." Med Group was signaling for a timeout after the basket fell at about the two-second mark, he said.

"We tried to call it but they told us that it has to be from the court and not from a coach or a player on the bench," he said. "Great information to know in the near future."
Robert Lawrence was Flight Controllers' top scorer with 17 points. Ryan Rutledge posted 14, followed by McCray with 15.

McAdory led 72 MDG and the game with 23 points, only two of them treys. Coopwood hit three 3-pointers on his way to 11 points. Jarvis Bradley scored 10.

In the first half, Flight Controllers built as much as a 10-point lead that 72 MDG cut to five by halftime. Med Group entered the game with a 5-1 record.