Senior guard Darnell Cephas (eight points) had previously tied the score at 74 with a three-pointer off an assist from senior swingman Sam McDuffie, but Cheyney was able to break the tie while leaving the Lightning with less than a second to work with.
GBC, haunted by free-throw shooting in the early-going this season, fell to 1-2 with the loss while Cheyney improved to 2-0. The Lightning’s two losses have come by a combined six points, with one of them going into overtime, and today’s game decided on the final possession.
McDuffie, who led the Lightning with 25 points, eclipsed the 1,000-point scoring plateau with the Lightning’s first made basket of the afternoon, a three-pointer about a minute-and-a-half into the action. Play was stopped after and McDuffie was congratulated with balloons from head coach Chuck Hammond.
McDuffie shot 7-for-15 from the field, including 3-for-5 from long-range. He also dished out a game-high four assists and had one steal. The CACC’s 10th-leading free-throw shooter last season, McDuffie could only convert 8-of-14 from the stripe today and is shooting just 66.7 percent from the line this season.
Senior forward Terrence Parkes collected his second double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 rebounds. He shot just 4-for-11 from the field and 4-for-6 from the foul line, missing both shots during a trip at a pivotal point in the game where the Lightning led by just two with about three-minutes left in regulation.
Senior guards Azeez Ellegood and Jon Crawford each pitched in nine points and three assists and fellow senior guard Darnell Cephas, who has come on strong of late, cashed in with eight, including the clutch three to tie the game near the end of regulation.
Leading the Wolves offensively was Bray, who had a game-high 34 points on 11-for-23 shooting from the field (4-of-5 from long-range) and 8-for-11 from the foul line. Bray also led all scorers in the Wolves’ 68-65 victory at the Jones Center last season.
After Boyd opened the scoring with a 1-of-2 trip at the foul line, McDuffie’s opening three-point shot started a huge Lightning surge that led to a 16-3 advantage. GBC would twice expand that lead to as many as 15 (21-6 and 31-16).
But trailing 31-16 with 6:14 left in the first half, Cheyney closed out the first half on a 12-5 run and had cut the Lightning lead to eight (36-28) by halftime. The Wolves turned 13 Lightning first-half turnovers into 13 points and outscored GBC in the paint 13-6 in that first stanza.
Nearly a minute of scoreless action went by to start the second half before Cheyney’s Rob Townsend (11 points, six rebounds) sent shockwaves through the Jones Center with an electrifying dunk off of a feed from Bray. Later two free-throws from Boyd would cut the Lightning lead to four at the 18:41 mark.
Bray would score 24 of his 34 points to help Cheyney stay in striking distance for the entire half. McDuffie also stepped up his game with 19 of his 25 coming in the second half, but the Lightning’s biggest lead of the final half was only nine, and they never led by more than six in the final 10 minutes.
After closing within one point of GBC five different occasions, Bray finally sent the game to its first tie after converting a conventional three-point play at the 1:45 mark. Then after two Ellegood free-throws, Bray came right back down and made a three-pointer off an assist from Amarildo Matos to give Cheyney its first lead of the afternoon, 70-69.
Following a timeout, the Lightning tried an isolation play for McDuffie, but he could not get a layup to go. The ball stayed with Goldey-Beacom on an out-of-bounds call but Ellegood’s three-point attempt with 35 seconds left was off the mark.
Parkes quickly fouled Bray, who went to the line and calmly sank both his free-throws to give his team a three-point lead, 72-69.
Again McDuffie drove to the hoop and this time earned a trip to the line to shoot two. He made both to bring the Lightning within one, 72-71, and then Crawford quickly fouled Bray again.
Bray made both to again claim a three-point lead for the Wolves. Then Cephas tied the game at 74 with a three-pointer after a great find by McDuffie, setting up the last-second heroics by Boyd off a missed jumper by Bray.
Cheyney outscored GBC 30-14 in the paint on the afternoon and outshot the Lightning 48.2 percent to 44.9 percent. The Lightning made just 9-of-26 from the field (34.6 percent) in the second half. They also shot just 19-of-28 (67.9 percent) from the foul line including 16-of-24 in the second half.
Next up for the Lightning is the third of four straight Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference opponents, Kutztown University. So far the Lightning have split games with the PSAC, earning an 84-71 win over Shippensburg last Mon. and losing today to Cheyney.
Kutztown, who came into the Jones Center last year ranked No. 6 in the country, barely escaped with a 76-74 victory on a last-second shot by All-American senior Stephen Dennis.
The Lightning will look to avenge last year’s loss and bounce back from a tough loss today as they visit Keystone Hall to take on the Golden Bears at approximately 8 p.m. on Tues. night.
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