Clarendon stuns RC in OT

The Ranger College men's basketball season came to a stunning end on March 14 with an 82-77 overtime loss to Clarendon College in the first round of the Region V Basketball Championships. Clarendon rallied from a 9-point deficit in the first half to force the game into OT.

With the loss, Ranger College finished its season at 17-14 and just three wins shy of qualifying for the men's national tournament. Clarendon, sparked by its win over the Rangers, fight its way into the tournament finals on Saturday.

Ranger got off to a quick start against Clarendon, the No. 2 seed from the Western Junior College Athletic Conference. The Rangers, who entered the tournament as the No. 3 seed from the NTJCAC, outpointed the Bulldogs by a 33-24 clip in the first 20 minutes of play.

Clarendon stormed back in the second half. They posted a 38-39 clip and took a 63-59 lead with less than 30 seconds remaining.

Elisha Warren breathed new life into the RC hopes from there. Coming off the bench, he drained a long-range three-pointer with 24 seconds left on the clock to send the game into overtime.

Asjon Anderson helped the Rangers keep pace early in the extra period. He pushed home a couple of three-pointers in the first 1:40 of OT and kept Ranger tied at 68-68.

Unfortunately for RC, Johnson found his offensive groove from there. The Clarendon sophomore pumped in eight points in the ensuing 3 minutes and helped key a 20-15 run by the Bulldogs in the OT period.

Johnson paced Clarendon with a 43-point effort.

Anderson led all RC scorers with 27 points. Demarco Bethea and Andrew Holifield also reached double figures with 17 and 10 points, respectively.