Rochester pulls out a 95-89 victory to remain undefeated.
COLUMBUS, OHIO — The RazorSharks overcame a 21-point second-half deficit to rally for a 95-89 victory over the Ohio Bootleggers here on Friday night in Premier Basketball League action. It marked the first-ever game between the two teams.
The win kept the Sharks undefeated with a 7-0 slate as the Bootleggers dropped to 4-4, with three of their losses all coming to the powerhouse Kentucky Mavericks.
Trailing 5-0 early, Rochester was quick to respond and tie it back up. The first quarter was very competitive, with the largest gap just three points. John Ivy hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to knot the count at 21-all, heading into the second stanza.
However, the RazorSharks began turning the ball over way too frequently in the period and uickly fell behind. The Ohio lead grew to 16 before the two teams went into the locker room for halftime. The Sharks had 12 turnovers to just 4 for the Bootleggers, which proved to be the main difference in the game, as both teams were shooting around 43%.
Coming out of the half, Ohio immediately extended their lead to 21 points in the third quarter. Rochester cut the lead down to 7 by the mid-point in the period, thanks to the help of a few threes from veteran sharpshooter, Corey Allmond.
The rest of the period was back and forth, but by the end, the Sharks were still down a dozen. It wasn’t until a few minutes into the fourth that the RazorSharks found their groove. They cut the lead to one point at the 5-minute mark on a huge three from reigning MVP Jerice Crouch. He followed that up with a quick layup to take the lead for the first time since the first quarter, and the team never looked back.
The Sharks played solid defense in the final quarter as they up a franchise record low 9 points in the period.
Allmond was the game’s leading scorer with 26 points, going 6-for-9 from 3-point range. Melvin Council finished with 17 points and Jordan Railey had 11 with 6 rebounds. Dominic Woodson also tied for the team lead with 6 boards.
The Sharks go straight down to Owensboro, KY., Saturday to face the second place Kentucky Mavericks (5-1). They return home to the Blue Cross Arena on Thursday to face the Chautauqua Hurricane.