After a big overtime win against Goldsboro last Friday, C.B. Aycock is no stranger to big games on big stages.
That experience paid off when it mattered most on Tuesday evening against Rosewood.
The Golden Falcons once again executed in overtime to get a 57-48 victory. C.B. Aycock (6-0 overall) won its sixth game in a row, while Rosewood fell to 0-3.
“I’m always happy for the win, but it was ugly. From the jump, we came out slow, and we could never find our groove. We didn’t play like ourselves the whole game,” C.B. Aycock head coach A.J. Mundle said. “But it’s a win, so I’m always happy for a win, but we have a lot of work to do.”
In a back-and-forth game, the score was 46-46 at the end of regulation, but the Golden Falcons took control of the game in overtime.
C.B. Aycock (6-1 overall) scored five of the first six points in overtime to take a 53-46, with four of the Golden Falcons’ points coming from Dre Davis.
Kamran Prince, Jaidyne Dunn, Daqwan Meadows, and D.J. Prince all hit clutch shots in overtime to seal the win.
“From game one, I’ve been preaching get to the basket, get fouled, and get to the free-throw line,” Mundle said. “We looked down low to Dre in this game, and he scored some big buckets. He got to the free-throw line, and he knocked down free throws, so we have to continue to do that.”
C.B. Aycock started slowly as Rosewood jumped out to a 12-6 lead. However, a three-pointer from Gamere Culver made it 12-9 at the end of the first quarter.
Kam Prince opened the second quarter with a three-pointer of his own, and suddenly the game was tied 12-12.
The Eagles remained composed, and Jaelen Solomon’s layup at the end of the second quarter gave the Eagles an 18-17 advantage.
“I told my guys before, ‘Rosewood has a good thing going over here, and you can’t except the same team we saw last week.’ Mundle said.
A thunderous dunk from Kam Princeton put the Golden Falcons up 28-26 late in the third quarter, but the Eagles responded with a 6-0 run, which included four points from Micah Cox, to make it 30-30.
But Prince’s three-point play gave C.B. Aycock a 33-30 lead going into the fourth quarter.
With two minutes left in the game, D.J. Prince nailed a three-pointer to put C.B. Aycock up 44-41. But the Eagles refused to go away, and Dalton Philppeau’s layup and Otis Coley’s three-pointer put Rosewood in front 46-44.
Dre Carter then drained two free throws to tie the game 46-46 with 1:19 left. Both teams had chances to win the game in regulation, but neither team could not convert, so the game headed into overtime.
And in overtime, the Golden Falcons took control of the game and outscored Rosewood 11-2 to get their sixth straight win.
“We just can’t wait until overtime to get going. Good teams are supposed to come out from the tipoff or even warmups. You’ve got to come out from warmups with the same intensity and use it all through the game,” Mundle said. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m still proud of them. We held them off and got the win.”
C.B. Aycock travels to North Lenoir (1-4) on Friday, while Rosewood heads to Princeton for the Bulldogs season opener.
