By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

LANDIS — Connor Childers made a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to lift South Rowan to a stunning, 73-72, Central Carolina Conference win against defending league champ Thomasville on Tuesday.

“Connor had made a couple of turnovers late, but he really came through with a big shot for us,” South coach Andre McCain said. “Thomasville didn’t rotate, he was open and he knocked down the shot from the left wing, from right in front of our bench. The shot went in with no time left.”

Tyrese Shaver (18 points), Bailey Graham (17), Zach Powers (16) and Childers (14) were in double figures for the Raiders, (3-2, 3-1 CCC).

Cameron Whiteside scored 22 for the Bulldogs (3-2, 3-2 CCC), whose only previous loss was in double overtime at Salisbury.

South trailed by 22-14 after a quarter, but the Raiders didn’t fade away.

“We hung in there, kept the deficit in single digits,” McCain said. “Then we settled in. We started rebounding better and we knocked down some free throws. We kept our zone tight, forced them to take some long shots.”

South was still down, 57-49, heading to the fourth quarter but displayed a strong finishing kick.

South welcomed guard Dillon Kluttz back to the lineup. He’d been out a couple of games, and he made a difference.

“We did a good job of attacking in the fourth quarter,” McCain said.

South didn’t win a game in 2015-16, McCain’s rookie season. South won only one time last season, so having three wins — three league wins — this early, has everyone feeling good.

“We’ve got to stay humble, but our guys are starting to figure out they can play with a lot of teams,” McCain said. “This was a huge win for us. We haven’t had a win of this magnitude in a long time and it keeps us in the conference race.”

South Rowan 73, Thomasville 72

THOMASVILLE (3-2)

Whiteside 22, Cunningham 12, Barnes 12.

SOUTH (3-2)

Shaver 18, Graham 17, Powers 16, Childers 14, Kluttz 8.

Thomasville     22       15   20   15   — 72

S. Rowan             14    18   17    24  — 73