Close shave: Mullins wins by a hair

Coach Mark Gerald and the 21-0 Mullins Auctioneers have cruised through their fair share of games, however, this past Wednesday’s first round game at home against Cheraw nearly sank the mighty Aucs ship. Down five points in the final six minutes of the game, the two contenders struck with eight lead-changes during the span, as Mullins escaped with a 58-57 victory.

The Braves proved to be a tough draw falling from the top of their region to a fourth seeded playoff team in the final weeks of the regular season.”It wasn’t a fourth place team, but still we didn’t play well,” said Gerald, adding that his team is lucky to play another game, and may not take their opportunity for granted now. He also mentioned his players were in store for a rigorous training camp to refocus on team basketball. Gerald has the top player in the Class 2A conference in Andrew Crawford, and the second rank team, along with a homecourt advantage in the two opening rounds, but it looks like a tough road ahead for a squad attempting to end the year with an unblemished record. “Our strength is working on defense and playing team ball on offense, and we got away from it tonight and almost got beat. So hopefully it teaches us a lesson that we have to play a certain way to win...I hope we can get that back...” Gerald said.

To start the game, point guard Eric Smith nailed a pull-up three pointer, followed with a “dime” from Stacy Wilson to Steve Smith under the basket. “E-Wade” followed with a lob pass to Wilson, who later added a bank shot. Crawford pulled off a Kanye West rendition as he touched the sky, punching through the rim an alley-oop pass from Wilson. Three minutes into the frame, Mullins was ahead of Cheraw 11-3. Clemson's newest "Freshman All-American" Jaron Brown provided answers for the Braves with two quick scores, pulling close 13-9 at the 3:15 mark. However, Smith finished the quarter strong with an another assist to Wilson and strong dribble drive to the hoop. Qwan McFarland brought the crowd to its’ feet with a deep trey at the buzzer to close with a 20-11 advantage. The slow tempo worked to the Braves advantage, but the Aucs were able to find the points when needed.

Mullins began to build the lead in the second quarter off  great passing from the high post, with E. Smith, Wilson, and McFarland all connecting. Smith had four assists to go with his five points to start the game, while Wilson added three assists with eight points in the half. One of three nailed treys from Travis Small at the 5:35 mark had set a 26-16 score, but two free throws from Josh Henderson and three point play from Brown helped to work their way back. However, “Chuck” Crawford closed out the quarter with six of his 12 points in the first half, leading the Aucs to a 33-26 halftime advantage. It started to become clear that defense and rebounding would be the difference in the game as the vaunted Aucs perimeter shooting was cold, and players appeared tense shooting the basketball. Crawford managed to pulled down 15 rebounds in the game with solid support from forward Donte Cooper who added two blocks.

In the third quarter Cheraw outscored Mullins 12-7 as both teams fell into a three minute scoring drought. A floater from E. Smith, followed with a slashing basket attack from Wilson padded the lead 40-29 at the 3:05 mark, but another three pointer from Small and drive from Brown sparked a Braves rally, ending the quarter down 40-38.

The fierce battle in the final quarter began with back-to-back scores from Henderson and lay-up from Brown. At the 6:25 mark, Cheraw found themselves in the lead 45-40. Mullins answered with a dish from McFarland to E. Smith and three pointer nailed by Wilson to even the game. With five minutes remaining the game became a roller coaster ride with McFarland’s free throw to take a one point lead, being answered with a fullcourt drive from Brown, countered with lay-up finishes down the lane from Smith and Wilson, giving Mullins a 50-47 lead at the 4:08 mark. Small would immediately follow with two made free throws, and Brown struck again down low to retake the lead. Smith answered the bell again with a strong drive to the hoop, while Wilson connected on a baseline jumper to take a 54-51 jump. However, Cheraw found ways to draw contact and pick-up scores from Shereef Malachi and Small to reclaim a 55-54 lead. With under a minute and a half to play in the game, Eric Smith continued to attack, delivering an assist to his brother Steve Smith for a score in the paint. The sophomore would add two free throws to give Mullins a 58-55 lead with 25.3 seconds remaining. That was just enough time for Brown to drop in another lay-up and draw the foul. Unfortunately, the Cheraw forward couldn’t connect on the free throw and with two attempts under five seconds, resulting in misfires, Mullins was able to hold off it’s toughest challenger on the year. “It’s a lot of pressure on kids being undefeated and everybody already telling them they’re going to Columbia, then here comes the actual game...and when you’re at home, for four quarters the pressure is on,” Gerald said.

Brown led Cheraw with 21 points in the game, followed with 12 and 13 points respectively from Henderson and Small. Auctioneer Andrew Crawford’s 12 points and 15 rebounds were major contributions, while Wilson added 17 points and Smith finished with 15 points and five assists.

Mullins will host Bishop England at home Saturday at 7 p.m.