The Gulfport Admirals overcame an early 14-point deficit and had a four-point lead with under a minute remaining, only to watch the Petal Panthers rally at the foul line, sending Gulfport to a 57-55 defeat on Tuesday night at Petal.
The Admirals dropped to 5-7 overall while the Panthers head into a long holiday break at 7-8.
“You’ve got to take care of the basketball in those situations and you’ve got to block out on missed free throws,” said Gulfport coach Steve Hesser. “Those two things came up and got us at the end.”
Petal came out of the locker room smoking from 3-point range. The Panthers were 8 of 13 (61.5 percent) from the field in the first quarter, including 4 of 5 from beyond the arc, and led 22-10 after the first eight minutes.
That lead quickly grew to 14 points as 6-foot-7 Petal sophomore Ethan Long came off the bench and immediately asserted himself, scoring the Panthers’ first two baskets of the second quarter.
“I just told them to keep chopping wood, and maybe recognize who the shooters are,” said Hesser.
As they have all season, the Admirals turned to senior Amir Abdul-Rauf to get them out of the hole, and he did just that. Abdul-Rauf scored 12 of his team-high 21 points in the second quarter to get Gulfport on the comeback trail.
“We talked about really putting pressure on the ball, not letting them catch it without a hand in their face,” said Abdul-Rauf. “Early on, we were letting them catch it without feeling pressure. It was like target practice, and they were hitting.”
Abdul-Rauf keyed a 10-2 run that cut the deficit to six with some clutch outside shooting, including a pair of treys. Gulfport trailed 32-26 at halftime.
“I was just being confident within myself,” said Abdul-Rauf. “Just knowing there was a big crowd out there, not doing anything crazy and staying true to what I’ve been doing, putting up numbers. We just came up short tonight.”
The Admirals kept the heat on in the third quarter, opening the period with an 8-2 run to tie it up 34-34 on a layup by junior Chance Gaines.
Gulfport had success in the second half attacking the basket as the Panthers began working to take Abdul-Rauf out of the mix.
“We were just taking what they were giving us,” said Hesser. “I mean, they were going to try to stop Amir, so they were going to trap him as he came across halfcourt. When they do that, we’ve got a numbers advantage. We moved the ball and got it in some good spots.”
Sophomore Morris Robertson had two layups and junior Kevari Fairley closed the period with a 3-ball and a 12-foot jumper from the right baseline to put the Admirals in the lead.
“Our bigs were able to block down on their big, so we thought we could throw it down there and get some easy buckets to get back in the game,” said Fairley. “They were playing behind us in the post, so we got the ball down there and let them go to work.”
Petal regained the lead with two free throws, but Adbul-Rauf drew a foul and got it tied up again. Gulfport held the Panthers to just one of their first eight shots in the second half.
However, Long made four of Petal’s last five shots in the third quarter on two layups and two jump shots, the second a 15-footer at the buzzer to put the Panthers back in front 44-43 heading into the fourth quarter.
“We just tried to post our big men up and throw it over his head,” said Fairley. “It was on us to get on the back side and help him out. We didn’t get that until the second half when we started noticing what they were doing.”
The final period was a chess match as the two teams probed for openings that weren’t there. Gulfport only got five shots in the fourth quarter. The Admirals made three of them, including a 3-pointer for a 49-46 lead midway through the period.
Petal only got three shots in the final quarter, but made all three, including a conventional three-point play, as Long drove the baseline for a scoop shot, drew a foul, and made the free throw to tie it back up 49-49 with 3:47 remaining.
Ultimately, the game was won—and lost—at the foul line. The Panthers got to the line for 14 free throws in the final four minutes and were only 50 percent, keeping Gulfport in the game. But the Admirals converted just 5 of 10 free throws in the final period.
Still, Gulfport took a 54-50 lead when senior Ar’Jae Robinson scored a layup with a minute left on the clock.
Petal missed two foul shots on the subsequent possession, but the Admirals turned it over on a steal, then threw the ball out of bounds after senior Peyton Lindley made two free throws for the Panthers.
That’s when Long made the play of the game.
With 20.8 seconds left, Petal junior Kingston Smith was fouled, then he missed both free throws. But Long swooped in to grab the offensive rebound on the second miss and get a putback layup to tie the game 54-54.
Gulfport was fouled at the other end, but Robinson missed both free throws and then fouled Long at the other end. Long made both free throws, putting Petal ahead for good with 14.8 seconds left.
The Admirals got what they wanted on the ensuing possession—a foul on Fairley on a shot in the paint with 5.9 seconds remaining, but he missed the first foul shot and made the second.
Lindley was fouled immediately with 3.3 seconds left, making the first free throw and missing the second, which worked in the Panthers’ favor because Gulfport was unable to gain possession of the ball in time to get a final shot off.
“They started sending three people to guard me, face-guarding me,” said Abdul-Rauf. “So, a lot of times, my teammates were looking to get the ball to me, and I just wasn’t available. They made sure there was always more than one person guarding me.”
Fairley and Gaines each finished with 11 points for Gulfport. Long led all scorers with 23 points for Petal.
The Admirals will take to the road again on Friday against Picayune.
