By Ryan Bisesi
rbisesi@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY — It was a not- so-sweet 16 for Salisbury Friday night against Central Davidson.
The Hornets watched their guests compile a 16-0 run in the second half that defined the night in a 62-48 CCC loss to Central. A 43-37 lead evaporated by the end of the third quarter and the Spartans held Salisbury to just five points in the fourth to start out 2-0 in the league.
“We’re playing pretty good for about two-and-a-half quarters,” Salisbury coach Jason Causby said. “When they started making shots, we didn’t respond.”
Central won its ninth straight despite only getting three points from leading scorer Chris Pompey, who was saddled with foul trouble. The Spartans (11-2, 2-0) hit 8 three-pointers as a team, four of which came from Jordan Lakey. Lakey finished with a career-high 18 points.
“We responded well to adversity,” Central coach Brian Hege said. “We talked about how we’d have a game at some point in time that would test our resolve.”
After a jumper from Corban Usry gave Salisbury a six-point edge late in the third, the Hornets went scoreless for the next 6:15. They had just one field goal in the fourth on a putback from Donnell Alexander.
Lakey canned a three-point play at the third-quarter buzzer to give the Spartans the lead for keeps. The junior hit a leaner and a trey on consecutive trips to force Causby to call timeout down 50-43.
Derek Chavis (13 points) ended the spurt with a three-point play on a drive to the hoop to push the lead to double digits. John Hanes also had 13 for the Spartans.
“When you’re in a hole like we are right now, things don’t get easier for you,” Causby said. “We can only do that by working harder.”
Salisbury (4-10, 0-2) held a 33-31 lead at halftime on a Keion Adams layup. Free throws from Tyler Petty and DeShawn Troutman and a Alexander basket pushed the edge to 37-31. Pompey picked up his third foul and the Hornets seemed poised to snap their losing skid, now at five games. Central scored the next six points to tie it.
“We really got into a rhythm there late in the third and early in the fourth,” Hege said. “That zone caused us some problems early. Defensively, we held them to 15 points in the second half and that was huge.”
Central led 11-8 when Pompey was called for a technical foul that spurred a 9-0 run for Salisbury. Nick Brown hit a trey to give the Hornets the lead and Petty caught an alley oop from Keion Adams for a 17-11 lead.
“We played basically without Chris all night,” Hege said. “We had Lakey step up. I was proud of our determination and grit.”
Salsibury led 19-12 at the end of the first. Treys from Lakey and Chavis pulled the Spartans to within 25-23 and Lakey hit another long-distance shot to make it 27-26. Central took a brief lead at 28-27 off a Will Ramsey jumper but Salisbury answered with points from Adams and a putback from Petty.
Alexander led the Hornets with a career-high 16 points. Petty finished with 10. The Hornets played without start Buster Hillie, who was hurt against West Rowan Tuesday.
“It’s kind of like the same story, different night,” Causby said. “We’re going to have to play a full 32 minutes where we defend and rebound to the extent we can.”

CENTRAL DAVIDSON (62) — Lakey 18, Chavis 13, Hanes 13, Ramsey 9, Pompey 3, Walls 2, Biesecker 2, King, Wray.
SALISBURY (48) —Alexander 16, T. Petty 10, Fazia 6, Troutman 5, Adams 4, Usry 4, Brown 3, J. Petty.

C. Davidson 12 19 14 17 — 62
Salisbury 19 14 10 5 — 48