The Carolina Hoopers earned the inaugural Dunn PAL Intramural League crown Thursday evening, defeating the Runnin’ Rebels, 48-45.
A pair of Diontae Smith free throws set the lead at 3 with 2.2 seconds remaining. A quick inbound from the Rebels’ Tyree Coxum lead to Jamar Autry’s last-second half-court heave that just missed left of the basket.
The Rebels made a game of it in the second half after trailing 33-22 at the conclusion of the first. Jones brothers Davonte and Ramsey led the Hoopers’ offensive surge that built the lead. They and the rest of their teammates had to try to hold off Autry’s second-half dominance, as he scored 19 of his 26 after the half. With 9 minutes remaining, the lead had been cut to just 4.
Poor defensive effort on the part of the Hoopers led to the 11-point margin diminishing quickly halfway through the second.
Hoopers head coach Vince Marshall Jr. could be heard stressing them to get back to defend. Ultimately, his team did just enough to fend off the Rebels’ late-game run to claim the victory.
Ramsey Jones led the Hoopers with 15 points. Davonte Jones and Hykeem Raines both finished with 12. Tra’zarion Whitehead had 7. Diontae Smith contributed 2 with the final clutch free throws to force the last shot.
Autry finished with a game-high 26 points for the Rebels. Rashay Cooke had 13. Tyree Coxum and Donald Plummer rounded out the rest of the scorers with 4 and 2, respectively.
