GRAHAM–When Orange sophomore Coleman Cloer suffered an injured ankle in practice four days before the season-opener on November 13, the prevalent thinking was the Panthers’ pumpkin would turn into a stagecoach upon his return, just like in Cinderella.
Cloer returned just in time for the Central Carolina opener against Southern Alamance on Thursday night, but the stagecoach had a flat tire in the first half.
That didn’t keep some Christmas magic from being spread around for Orange in the clutch.
Orange (3-7, 1-0 in the Central Conference), which never led in regulation, erased a 60-55 deficit in the final 28 seconds to force overtime. The Panthers didn’t trail in the extra session and stunned the Patriots 72-68 in overtime to end a seven-game losing streak.
Cloer, who received Division I scholarship offers from N.C. State, Wake Forest, Mississippi State, Iowa and Appalachian State in the offseason, scored 29 points and grabbed eleven rebounds in his season debut. Orange point guard Kai Wade added 17.
Chris Epps paced Southern Alamance (1-4) with 16 points.
It appeared Orange would go into Christmas break with another disappointing loss when Cloer missed two free throws with :30.8 left. Southern’s Tyler Moore got the rebound but fell down and was called for traveling. Cloer drained two free throws after being fouled by Moore with :23.5 remaining. Moore became the third Patriot in regulation to foul out.
No Orange comeback would be complete without Wade stealing the ball on an inbounds pass. Sure enough, Wade picked the dribble away from Southern’s Jordan Moore and banked it in with :19.3 left to cut the Southern lead to 60-59.
Southern’s Evan Jacobson was fouled with :10.2 on the clock. He split a pair to make it 61-59. Cloer took the inbounds pass and roared to the basket like a teenager going for Taylor Swift tickets, drawing a blocking foul on Jordan Moore. Cloer made the two free throws with :5.8 left to even the game at 61-61, the first tie of the game.
Incredibly, Orange had a chance to win in regulation when Wade forced a held ball on Jacobson, but Epps stole the inbounds pass from three-quarters court as the buzzer sounded.
Orange center Ryan Honeycutt drained two free throws to open overtime after being fouled by Myles Darroch, giving the Panthers its first lead of the game with 3:42 remaining in overtime. After Moore missed for Southern, Cloer fed Wade, who drained a three-pointer from near the Burlington city limits, which left nearly everyone in Orange visiting standing in awe.
Orange guard Xandrell Pennix sank two free throws to increase Orange’s lead to 70-63 with 1:124 left, but the Patriots had some comeback moxie of its own. Reserve forward Myles Darrouch, who played only seven minutes, scored on a lay-in. With the score 71-66 with 48 seconds left, Moore streaked down the floor for a lay-in. Jacobson tied up Wade for a held-ball at midcoast. But Epps three-pointer to tie was short. Wade knocked down a free throw to finish it off.
Much of the night was frustrating for Orange. They shot just 3-of-22 from 3-point range, only 37% from the field overall. Just five Panthers scored. With 2:15 remaining in the second quarter, Southern led 31-17. A smaller Patriots team out rebounded Orange 24-14 in the first half, including 13 offensive boards.
Southern led 32-22 at halftime. The Panthers struggled to cut into the lead in the third quarter. It remained a 10-point deficit after Tyler Moore drilled a 3-pointer on a field from Jacobsen with 1:03 remaining in the frame, but Xandrell Pennix finished the quarter with four straight points to make it 47-41.
Even some of Orange’s highlight reel plays were swiftly answered by Southern. Wade hit Cloer on an ally-oop, which started after a steal by Freddy Sneed. Undeterred, Tyler Moore looped a pass to Epps, who scored on a sweeping lay-in to increase the Patriots lead to 56-50 with 4:18 left in regulation.
Orange will face Northwood to start the John Wall Invitational at Broughton High School in Raleigh on December 28. Tipoff will be at 3:30.
ORANGE 72, SOUTHERN ALAMANCE 68 OT
ORA–7 15 19 20 11-72
SAL–19 13 15 14 7-68
ORANGE: Xandrell Pennix 10, Kai Wade 17, Coleman Cloer 29, Ryan Honeycutt 8, Freddy Sneed 8.
SOUTHERN ALAMANCE: Liam Forrester 7, Jordan Moore 13, Evan Jacobson 5, Josiah Aiken 7, Tyler Moore 12, Myles Darroch 4, Chris Epps 16, Cooper Dodson 3, Kolby Kronbergs 1.
3-point goals: Orange 3 (Cloer 2, Wade), Southern Alamance 5 (J. Moore, Jacobson, T. Moore 2, Dodson)
Fouled Out: Orange (Sneed), Southern Alamance (Forrester, Aiken, T. Moore)
Rebounds: Orange 50 (Cloer 11), Southern Alamance 40 (Forrester 8).