BIC knocks off Marmaduke in NEA Tournament opener

Less than a week after learning of the arrest and suspension of head coach Brandon Ballard, Buffalo Island Central, under the direction of Superintendent and interim coach Gaylon Taylor, rebounded with a hard fought 56-49 victory over Marmaduke in the opening round of the NEA Tournament Saturday at the First National Bank Arena in Jonesboro.

The Greyhounds held a slim 10-8 edge after the first quarter, thanks to a Garrett Hensley three pointer at the 1:07 mark. BIC charged back in the second stanza behind the strong inside play of senior Devin Pemberton. The Mustang game plan was to get the ball inside to the big 6’3” post player and Pemberton answered the call, scoring 10 second quarter points, giving BIC a 25-21 lead at intermission.

Pemberton scored the first two buckets in the third period as BIC increased its lead to 29-21 at the 6:57 mark. But Marmaduke’s Andy Agee would knock down three consecutive treys over the next four minutes, helping the Greyhounds slice the BIC lead to 33-30 at the 2:57 mark. Pemberton scored again on a nifty inside move to put BIC up 35-30. Kyle Thrasher and Blaine Wildy hit back to back buckets before Drake Mitchell scored the last four points of the quarter, capping off a 10-0 Mustang run that upped the BIC lead to 43-30 after three periods of play.

BIC led by 18 points, 48-30, with 5:32 left in the game, but Marmaduke had one last charge left in their tank. The Greyhounds drilled four treys over the final 2:55 to trim the Mustang lead to 55-49 with 14 seconds remaining. Kaleb Dublin’s free throw at the eight second mark made it a three-possession game and the Mustangs held on to advance to a second-round matchup against top seeded Tuckerman Thursday night at 9:00.

Pemberton powered his way to a game high 23 points while WIldy and Mitchell also hit double figures, scoring 12 and 10 points respectively. Dublin tallied seven while Kyle Thrasher added four points. BIC finished 12-19 from the foul stripe and made a pair of three pointers.

Agee topped the Greyhounds with 12 points while Austin McCoy added 10. Marmaduke sank 6-9 free throws and canned 11 triples.