Flames scorch PCA in fourth quarter

Published 12:01 pm Friday, January 14, 2011

FLOWOOD — Wounded and flu-stricken, University Christian’s gameplan Thursday night was to stay close enough to Porters Chapel to have a chance at the end.

The Flames did that, and then some.

University Christian held PCA without a field goal for more than seven minutes of the fourth quarter to turn a seven-point deficit into a 56-46 victory. K-Shun Evans scored 20 points and Seth Peace added nine points and five blocked shots to lead UCS (11-5, 9-0 District 5-A), which outscored PCA 23-6 in the final period after starting it with a 14-0 run.

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The surge allowed UCS, which has lost three players to season-ending knee injuries and was missing two others Thursday because of the flu, to steal a win.

“Stamina was not our strong suit, but we made the most of it,” University Christian coach Josh Dorman said. “We didn’t want to get behind by seven, but we needed to conserve energy. In the fourth quarter we were able to step it up a little bit.”

Ted Brisco hit a fallaway 15-footer at the third-quarter buzzer to put PCA ahead 40-33. It was the last shot the Eagles hit from the field until Kawayne Gaston dropped in a layup with 37 seconds to go. They turned the ball over six times in the fourth quarter and missed their first nine shots from the field.

A free throw by Gaston with 3 ½ minutes left was PCA’s only point until the final minute, when he added the layup and a 3-pointer. By then, University Christian had turned its deficit into a 10-point lead and was on the way to victory.

PCA (7-6,7-4) was just 2-for-14 from the field in the fourth quarter as its three-game winning streak was snapped. Gaston led the team with 20 points and nine rebounds, Brisco had nine points and nine rebounds, and Talbot Buys scored 11 points.

“The first three quarters, we were probably as flawless as we could’ve asked for besides our shooting,” said PCA coach E.J. Creel, whose team missed nearly a dozen layups in the game but outrebounded the Flames 32-22. “It was like we had come out of the locker room and started a whole new ballgame on a different night. We beat ourselves.”