By Andy States
SMAC Content Manager

Dytania Johnson picked up the ball at the baseline with just two seconds to play, set for his inbounds pass with his Thomas Stone Cougars behind by two points.

Over the previous 45 seconds, the visiting Cougars had squandered a five-point lead to the Chopticon Braves, and seemingly needed a miracle to come away with the win. They got it, as Johnson's pass three-quarters of the length of the court was received by Stephon Battle. Battle quickly passed to Leron Knight, who knocked down the game-winning three-pointer as the buzzer sounded in Stone's 63-62 win.

The win was the sixth in a row for Stone (7-2, 2-1), while Chopticon (8-1, 2-1) suffered its first defeat. 

"This is very big," said Knight. "They were an 8-0 team and we kind of took them for granted."

With just 47 seconds left, Stone led 60-55 following two Battle free throws. The Cougars' lead had swelled to as large as eight near the midpoint of the fourth quarter, but Chopticon roared back in the final seconds.

Devon Hicks started the Braves' run with a long three-pointer to cut the deficit to 60-58 with 15 seconds to play. Then, after Stone missed the front end of a subsequent one-and-one, Derrell Armstrong gathered up the ball and raced downcourt for a game-tying layup. Glenn Thompson intercepted the ensuing inbounds pass and was fouled, and proceeded to convert two free throws to give Chopticon its first lead in the final period with just two ticks left on the clock.

"I think we got to the point where we were playing not to lose," Stone coach Dale Lamberth said. "We stopped really doing a whole lot of things we've been doing the last five games."

Lamberth saw his team get tenative, which led to a 10-second violation and a few turnovers, and Chopticon took advantage. But down to its final two seconds, Stone found a way with Knight's three-pointer.

"Find a way to win, that's what happens in the pros, college, high school," Lamberth said. "Things happen where you pull it out.

"It's not a negative it got so close. [Chopticon] was 8-0 for some reason. It wasn't like we were playing a team that was 0-8 and wasn't really doing things well. They were doing something right."

Battle led a relatively balanced Stone scoring attack with 20 points, and also anchored the defense down low with several blocked shots.

Armstrong scored a game-high 28 points in the loss and led the fourth-quarter rally with nine points in the frame. Joel Pease also reached double digits for the Braves, contributing 12 points.

"It was kind of a game of runs," Armstrong said. "They would go on a good run, then we would go on a good run. We knew coming in this was going to be a very tough game because Stone's a very good team."

Though disappointed by the loss, and of the thought that the final inbounds pass may have been deflected and the clock possibly not started with that initial touch, Chopticon coach Terry Mumau nonetheless was proud of the effort from his team. Back in the earlier part of the decade Chopticon and Thomas Stone waged one of the fiercest rivalries in the conference, and Wednesday night's showing served to show that the Braves are again back in the SMAC's upper echelon.

"A team like Stone, they're a great team," Mumau said. "For us to stick with them the way we did and actually be on the brink, tenths of a second from a win, it says something about our team."

Thomas Stone 63, Chopticon 62
S    11    16    17    19
C    10    18    14    20
Stone: Battle 8 4-6 20, Ouzts 4 0-0 9, Smith 4 0-2 8, Washington 2 2-2 8, Knight 3 0-0 7, Davis 3 0-0 6, Johnson 2 1-2 5
Chopticon: Armstrong 11 5-8 28, Pease 4 2-2 12, Thompson 2 5-10 9, Hicks 2 0-0 5, Blackwell 2 0-0 4, Gannon 2 0-0 4
Three-pointers: Stone 4 (Washington 2, Ouzts, Knight); Chopticon 4 (Pease 2, Armstrong, Hicks)