Austin Clark has been coaching too long to be placated by any sort of moral victory, but Tuesday night at Duke Gymnasium the veteran coach came close.
Down 18 with 10 minutes to play against Montgomery Bell Academy in the first round of the TSSAA Division II-AA playoffs, Clark's Baylor Red Raiders nearly pulled off a miracle. However, after tying the game at 53 with a little over a minute to play, Baylor saw the visitors walk away with a 58-55 win.
"You have to play with intensity to play with a good basketball team from the start, and we didn't," Clark said. "I'm proud of the way we battled back in the second half.... It's just tough. This team had already beaten us twice during the season, so I don't understand why we didn't bring it in the first half. We brought it in the second half, but it wasn't enough."
In that first half the Big Red (16-10) moved within the offensive zone with ease, often resulting in back-door layups or easy dribble-and-drives. The frustrated Red Raiders trailed 24-17 after a Jaylon Baker steal and layup, but a strange technical foul called on Baker a moment later as he was walking away from an official led to four quick MBA points and a 30-17 halftime deficit.
That margin grew to 44-26 on back-to-back baskets by MBA's Jackson Owen with 2:33 left in the third quarter, but Baylor super sophomore Beyuan Hendricks scored seven points to kickstart the comeback as the deficit was 48-36 entering the final period.
The Red Raiders' defense then kicked into high gear, forcing four turnovers in the first three minutes, and when Hendricks followed Patrick Urey's 3-pointer with a pair of free throws, the lead was down to six with still 6:31 to play.
The comeback culminated five minutes later with a Baker free throw, tying the game at 53 with 1:29 to play. However, 12 seconds later, MBA's Thomas Carr drained a pull-up 3-pointer, Baylor missed a 3 and the Big Red made it a three-point game on a Drew Wilkest free throw with 31 seconds left.
The lead was still three with four seconds to play when Urey grabbed a loose ball, avoided one defender and let loose a tying 3-pointer that hit the front of the rim.
"They showed their courage and their Baylor pride to get back in the basketball game," Clark said. "We had a chance but just couldn't recover. The good news is they are all juniors and sophomores, so we will be back."
Hendricks led Baylor with 21 points, with Wilkest topping MBA with 16.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296; follow on Twitter @youngsports22.