BLUEFIELD – It came down to the last minute at the Dome but men's basketball held off the sting of the Allen Yellow Jackets for a 79-74 AAC win Thursday night.
The Rams grabbed the early lead over the Yellow Jackets, going up by eight in the game's first four minutes. Allen chipped away at the lead, cutting it in half and down to two at the 12-minute mark. The Yellow Jackets pulled to within a point with five minutes to play in the half, 27-26, but the Rams pushed back ahead by five on a Ben Grove stick-back, and Niquan Cousins' three made it an eight-point Bluefield lead with just over two-and-a-half to play before intermission.
The Rams led 39-28 at halftime.
BC moved up by 15 in the second half, but Allen quickly cut it to eight points with 12 minutes to play in the game. Allen fought back. With just over five minutes left the Yellow Jackets cut the Rams' lead to four points, setting the stage for an exciting final five minutes of action in the Dome.
Two free throws by Elijah Fabyan with 3:56 to play made it a two-point game 67-65. The Jackets made it a one-point game with 2:20 to play and took their first lead of the contest, 72-71, with 1:24 to play in the game.
Two Donal Gooch free throws put BC back on top 73-72 with 1:05 left, and another pair of charity tosses by Reid with 47.2 left gave the Rams a 75-72 lead. Two Allen free throws with 40.3 once again made it a one point game at which time the teams exchanged time outs. Cousins' three from the left baseline with 17.7 sealed the deal, giving the Rams a 78-74 lead.
Cousins had a game-high 21 points, Reid added 17 and Jermiah Jenkins finished with 11 for the Rams. Jorge Concepcion III led BC with nine rebounds.