Prince George's Valiant Comeback Falls Short After Game-Winning Basket Recorded With 1.7 Seconds Left Gives Allegany Win, 78-76

LARGO, Md. – Despite Prince George's Community College making a 15-2 run to tie the game in the closing minutes of the game, Allegany College of Maryland squeaks out the victory on a layup with 1.7 seconds left to earn a 78-76 victory in Maryland Junior College Athletic Conference (MD JUCO) men's basketball action on Wednesday.

Kennith Ford (Forestville, Md./National Collegiate Prep) powered the comeback with seven points while Gus Stone (Baltimore, Md./North County) tied the game at 70 on a pair of free throws with 3:39 remaining.

The Trojans (5-0, 1-0 MD JUCO) traded a basket with Stone to keep the game tied with 2:48 on the clock. Allegany took the lead again only to see Tavon Ngangum (Silver Spring, Md./Springbrook) answer off an offensive rebound with 1:54 left. The Trojans and Stone traded baskets again to tie the game at 76 with 73 seconds remaining.

Allegany missed on its next offensive chance to give the Owls (3-3, 0-1 MD JUCO) a chance to take the lead for the first time since holding a 41-39 lead at the intermission. Ford missed a shot from behind the arc and the Trojans grabbed the defensive rebound with 27 seconds left and call a timeout with 22 seconds left. The visitors call a timeout with 6.9 seconds left and then let their point guard do the rest with the decisive basket with 1.7 seconds left. Prince George's had one last chance, but Stone's heave from the left side missed as time expired.

Paul Golder (Laurel, Md./Laurel) scored a season-high 14 points for the Largo program while Ngangum and Stone each registered 12 points. Ford posted 11 points, Mykal Johnson (Landover, Md./Charles H. Flowers) chipped in 10 points and James Hagins (Roanoke, Va./William Fleming) missed a double-double after finishing with seven points and 10 rebounds in the loss.

The Owls seemed to use big runs to come back on Allegany in each half and nearly pulled off the victory.

Trailing 37-29 with 3:07 on the clock in the first half, Prince George's closed the stanza on a 12-2 run to go into the locker room with the advantage. Johnson had five points and Ngangum added four points, including the go-ahead basket with three ticks left in the stanza, in the run for a 41-39 edge going into the locker room.

The game was closely contested in the second half until the Trojans broke a 50-all standstill with an 18-5 run to take its largest lead at 68-55 with 6:43 remaining. The Owls then chipped away at the lead to even the score four times and then lost on a heartbreaking basket in the paint in the waning seconds of the tilt.

Stone also added eight rebounds and four assists while Shiloh Beale chipped in eight points for Prince George's.

The game marked the MD JUCO opener for both teams. The Owls are the defending MD JUCO Tournament champions and will host the annual state JUCO tournament in February.

Prince George's returns to action with a two-game road trip to Western Pennsylvania. The squad will start the trip at Butler County on Friday. Tipoff is 7 p.m.