A little look to the right near the basket was all Jones (Sr., Ridgeway, SC) needed to see. The back screen set, Sidney Evans took flight from the right block. Jones lofted the ball to the right of the rim and Evans (Jr., Durham, NC) snatched it at his highest ascent.
From there, it was elementary. The crowd’s roar reached its crescendo as Evans slammed the ball through the hoop, and the play of the night was made.
It proved to be an early exclamation point for Fayetteville State’s season-opener against Barber-Scotia, but it was emblematic of a brilliant first half for the Broncos, who used a huge lead at the break to down the Sabers 83-70 on Friday night at Felton J. Capel Arena.
“It’s about setting a standard for yourself, to play hard and to play well,” said Fayetteville State coach Alphonza Kee. “You’ve got to have the same intensity whether you’re up 20 or down 20, and this is a great time to learn. That’s what this time of year is about – learning.”
In the first half, the Broncos (1-0) looked like they were acing the course. Jarmel Baxter (Jr., Davidson, NC) buried two early 3-pointers and made all three foul shots after being fouled on another as the Broncos raced out to a 14-4 lead. Ariel Robinson (Sr., Coral Springs, FL) hit a couple of 3s himself, and Seth Hawkins (So., Greensboro, NC) and Tim Plummer (Jr., Apex, NC) hooked up on a couple of dishes and layups. It was a highlight reel for the first 20 minutes, as the Broncos built a 31-6 lead that went to 37-12 and then 48-16 by the half.
“We had a good first half and jumped on them,” said Baxter, who finished with a team-high 16 points. “But we need to step on a team’s neck when we’ve got them like that.”
Fayetteville State had trouble keeping the same offensive pace in the second half, opening the period without a score for more than 5 minutes. In that time, Barber-Scotia, which made just 3 of 22 field goals in the first half, found its range and its game, pouring on an 11-0 run to trim the seemingly insurmountable deficit to 21 points at 48-27.
Robinson made a 3-pointer with 14:39 left for the Broncos’ first points of the second half, but the Sabers kept coming, eventually outscoring Fayetteville State 27-8 to make it a 13-point game, 56-43, with 8:58 remaining.
The game got even closer than that. Michael Hinton hit a couple of 3s to make it an eight-point game with 6 minutes to go before Baxter made a big 3 with 5:16 to go to give the Broncos some breathing room at 66-53.
Barber-Scotia made yet another run, and had a chance to cut the deficit to six or five when it had possession with just over 3 minutes left.
But the Broncos got a stop and Robinson, who had 14 points, hit a 3, as did Hawkins, and Fayetteville State rebuilt a 14-point lead, 76-62, with just over 2 minutes to go to hold off the Sabers.
“We pulled off the press in the second half, and tried to work on some things in our halfcourt set,” Kee said. “When I pulled it off, I pulled the plug out, and we are not yet mature enough to play at that level after I pulled the press off.”
Still, it’s a win to open the season for the Broncos.
“A win is a win,” said Robinson. “We’re glad to have it.”
Dominique Johnson added 12 points and six rebounds while Andre Best chipped in 11 points for the Broncos.
Ke’vontae Hairlson led Barber-Scotia with 16 points while Hinton added 15. John Strickland, who leads the Sabers in scoring and rebounding, had 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds before fouling out with just under 5 minutes remaining.
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