MURFREESBORO, Tenn.-For more than three quarters Howard's basketball team held a slim lead despite turnovers, foul trouble and perhaps the best individual player it had faced. But in the final three minutes of Friday's Class AA state tournament semifinal, all of those factors added up against the Hustlin' Tigers in a 61-53 loss to top-ranked Liberty.
In a game that had 15 lead changes, Howard held a one-point advantage with 3:42 remaining. But the Tigers committed three crucial turnovers and Liberty's Kendall Anthony accounted for eight of his team's final points in a 13-4 scoring run spanning the final three minutes.