By Mike London
mlondon@salisburypost.com
CHINA GROVE ó Carson guard Devon Heggins connected on a spinning, buzzer-beating jumper in the lane to salvage a 45-43 win for the Cougars against upset-minded East Rowan on Monday.
“I almost didn’t take the shot, was just going to let it just go to overtime,” said Heggins, who bumped into teammate Darius Moose as he finished his spin. “I was fortunate, very lucky it went in.”
Even with the county’s most boisterous student section making bizarre Christmas fashion statements and generally going insane, the Cougars had almost no business winning the NPC game. Not after shooting 1-for-15 in the second quarter to dig a hole.
But the Cougars played suffocating man-to-man defense in the second half. That was enough to pull it out.
“We were down 13 at the half but still not out of it because we’d played pretty good defense,” Carson coach Brian Perry said. “We didn’t let it get out of hand even though we could have. Then we found some great defensive energy in the second half.”
Carson (9-1, 3-0) is getting the bounces, the rolls and the breaks so far this season.
East, which shot 5-for-27 in the second half, isn’t.
“I’m proud of how we played, but my guys are hurting right now,” East coach Jim Lankford said. “They competed, competed the entire game.”
East (2-6, 0-2) was more inspired early, and with Phillip Ajayi hitting three jumpers, it grabbed a 14-7 lead.
Reserve post man Rashawn Joshua keyed East’s strong second quarter that produced a 25-12 halftime advantage. Joshua had five rebounds, two blocks and a steal in the quarter, and his long arms presented an obstacle for Carson’s high-scoring Moose.
“Joshua’s coming along, growing as a player,” Lankford said.
Carson didn’t make a field goal the last five minutes of the first half, but the second half began with a flurry that got the crowd into it. Carson buzz-saw Brandon Ferrare ignited a frenzy with a steal that led to a layup by Derrick Sewell. After Sewell took a charge, Moose delivered three quick buckets, and the Cougars made their move.
Moose produced 13 of his 19 points in the third quarter, Cody Clanton had three of his five blocks in the period, and Carson turned it over just once in those eight minutes.
East shot below 20 percent from the floor in the quarter and was clinging to a 36-35 edge by the end of it.
“Our goal was to get the deficit down to six going to the fourth quarter, and we did better than that,” Perry said.
Carson took a 41-40 lead on a stickback by Moose with 4:30 remaining.
After the Cougars regained possession, Perry elected to spread the floor and hold the ball in an attempt to pull East out of its zone.
Carson had momentum and East was an underdog on the road, so the Mustangs didn’t mind a couple of minutes going off the clock. East didn’t chase, but Heggins found Nick Houston for a layup and a 43-40 lead with 1:42 left.
Joshua made two free throws to cut East’s deficit to one and, with 50 seconds left, he rejected a drive down the lane by Clanton.
Preston Troutman made a free throw for East with 31 seconds left to make it 43-43. Troutman missed his second attempt, and Joshua was called for a foul on the rebound. Clanton went to the line with a one-and-one, but he missed and East had a chance for the final shot.
“But we went too early,” Lankford. “Just didn’t communicate very well on what we wanted to do.”
Ajayi made a move with about 20 seconds left and misfired on a tough jumper. Clanton grabbed the rebound. That stop led to Carson’s final possession and Heggins’ game-winning shot.
“With about seven seconds left, Devon realized he was going to be able to get the ball to Moose,” Perry said. “He had to kick it to Clanton or spin back around and take the shot. He made a great shot.”
EAST ROWAN (43) ó Ajayi 10, Joshua 8, O. Gittens 7, H. Gittens 6, Weber 4, Troutman 3, Honeycutt 3, Grohman 2, Watkins.CARSON (45) ó Moose 19, Houston 10, Sewell 8, Heggins 4, Clanton 3, Ferrare 1, Wagner.
East Rowan 14 11 11 7 ó 43
Carson 7 5 23 10 ó 45