Beckley – James Monroe rode the slopes but in the end came out on top.
After seeing a 10-point third quarter lead turn into a six-point fourth quarter deficit, James Monroe rallied to topple Beckley 81-79 in the Burger King consolation game of the Little General Battle for the Armory Tuesday in Beckley.
The Mavericks placed five in double figures, led by Kadyn Hines who scored all 19 of his points in the first half.
Trailing late, the Mavericks made a comeback charge, taking the lead with under a minute to play when Lane Taylor grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back up for a 78-77 advantage. A steal by Bryer Surface and subsequent layup on the ensuing inbound pushed the advantage to three with under 50 seconds to play.
One more Surface steal with under 25 seconds to play ran enough time off the clock to preserve the win for the Mavericks.
“It’s great to see a kid like Bryer come out and make some plays like that,” James Monroe head coach Kelly Mann said. “He’ll tell you for two years we’ve been pretty tough on him. He’s a kid that needs to get in that fight a little more and you’re seeing spurts of it. He’s really talented and he plays at his pace but he’s sneaky and can get his hands on balls and made two big plays.”
Surface finished with 10 points while Ryan Mann netted 17 to go along with 10 assists. Taylor (14) and Jayden Miller (12) rounded out the double-figure efforts for the Mavericks.
Leading Beckley was Gage Burdette who netted 25 on 10 of 12 shooting while Preston Clary added 15.
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