ARKANSAS-FORT SMITH 72, PARKSIDE 67
The duo of
Adam Bonk/
Joey St. Pierre was dynamic, but the Rangers dropped a heartbreaker to the host Lions in the final minute of the Holiday Classic. UAFS took a 68-67 lead with :09-seconds to play on a layup, which was followed by a Parkside technical foul and the eventual Lions win. Bonk finished with 20 points and went 6-of-8 from beyond the arc, his fifth game this season with multiple 3-pointers and second time hitting six. St. Pierre had career highs in points (18) and rebounds (8).Â
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FIRST HALF
ÂÂThe Rangers got off to a nice start offensively, thanks in large part to Bonk, who hit a pair of triples less than 3-minutes into the game and got Parkside out to a 10-4 advantage early. The Rangers used an 11-3 run late in the half to take a 33-23 lead with 4:15 to play after a pair of
D'Aaron Owens free throws. The Lions hit a 3-pointer with about :30-seconds to play and brought the score to 40-34 at halftime.
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SECOND HALF
Parkside held the lead for nearly the entire second half and led by 12 points at the most on two occasions. With 6:28 to play,
Ramar Evans went 1-of-2 at the free-throw line to put the Rangers up 60-49, which is where the Lions started to make their run. UAFS outscored Parkside 14-2 in the final 3:36 of the game to stun the Rangers.
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A LOOK AT THE STATS
Most of the stats leaned in Parkside's favor, including rebounding (+7), field-goal percentage (53.1 to 42.4) and assists (19-12), but the Lions got a major lift off turnovers, forcing 19 Ranger TO's and outscoring Parkside 27-4 in points off turnovers.
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After Bonk's 20,
Joey St. Pierre finished with career highs in points (18) and rebounds (8) while finishing with four blocks. Evans also had a very nice game, going for 11 points and eight assists while
Chavares Flanigan had eight points and a career-high nine assists.
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WHAT'S NEXT
Parkside will return home to DeSimone Gymnasium to face Trinity International on Saturday, Dec. 29 at 3 p.m. in the final game of 2018. GLIAC play will resume the next week as Northwood visits Parkside on Thursday, Jan. 3 at 7:30 p.m.
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