With just a few ticks remaining on the clock, and the Roosevelt Raiders scrambling to hold on to a three-point advantage, Flowers’ Clint Robinson spotted up and sank a shot as time expired. His shot was just a few feet short of the three-point range that would have sent the game to overtime, and allowed the Raiders to steal a 72-71 victory Friday night in a hostile road environment.

    Robinson’s shot put a cap on what had been a back-and-forth contest between the Prince George’s 4A boys’ squads, with runs by both teams. The Raiders came out firing to begin the game, going on a 19-10 run highlighted by a powerful dunk by senior guard Andre Fox, who led all scorers with 22 points. Flowers fought to close the deficit though, stringing together a few shots to leave the game locked at 19-19 after the first quarter.

    The Raiders were hampered by mistakes for the majority of the second quarter, committing several turnovers and fouls, and providing the Jaguars with the spark that allowed them to build a 28-21 lead with 4:44 left in the half.

    “That’s basketball,” commented Roosevelt Head Coach Brendan O’Connell on the second quarter. “It’s ups and down, and I thought tonight we did a good job of weathering the downs.”

    Roosevelt managed to find their groove late in the second quarter, ending the half on a 13-4 run and heading into the locker room with a two-point lead.

    The third quarter proved to be a scoring explosion for the Raiders, as junior guard Larry McCan and senior guard Trae Butler put on an impressive display of sharpshooting from three-point land to begin the period, extending the Roosevelt lead to 46-35.

    “It was my teammates,” said Butler. “They were fired up, ready in the second half. I was in early foul trouble so, you know, I had to come out and make sure I had an impact once I came back.”

    The Raiders held on to their lead for the remainder of the quarter and went into the final period with a 60-48 lead. But the Jaguars came roaring back in the fourth, using stifling defensive pressure to to cut the lead down to 72-69. Roosevelt managed to keep their composure in this pressure situation, and walked off of the court as one-point victors after the shot by Robinson.

    “I was proud to see that,” said O’Connell. “Because we haven’t been in a lot of really tight games at the end, and we missed some free throws, and they didn’t hang their heads, and got a big stop there at the end.”

    With the win, the Raiders moved to 8-2 on the season and picked up some much needed momentum. They next play at home against Bladensburg on Tuesday, January 14.

LEADING SCORERS

Eleanor Roosevelt: Andre Fox 22, Larry McCan 17, Trae Butler 14

C.H. Flowers: Devin Shuler 15, Patrick Johnson 14, Clint Robinson 12, Juwan Weldon 12