Team Stackhouse 48 Coaches in Christ 43

By Mark Carroll - Blog Coordinator

Team Stackhouse was without their Tar Heel stars Thursday night in their match-up against Coaches in Christ. The game was highlighted by physical defense on both ends, which led to a low scoring contest.

Corey Watkins hit a jumper midway through the first quarter to gain a 7-0 lead for Team Stackhouse. Coaches in Christ did not find its first bucket until the 4:44 mark when Trent Bivens knocked down a deuce to end the drought. With 23 seconds remaining in the quarter, Bivens threw down a monstrous two-handed slam for a 10-9 lead, but Dominique Sutton responded on the other end with a lay-up at the buzzer to put Team Stackhouse up 11-10.

Coaches in Christ struggled even more from the field in the second quarter, scoring just 6 points in the period. Sutton's one-handed slam with four seconds remaining put his team up 27-16 at the half.

John Brown helped bring back Coaches in Christ in the second half with a pair of lay-ups to cut the deficit. E.J. Williams hit a deep perimeter shot for Team Stackhouse, but Marcus Gaines responded by hitting all of his free throws after being fouled on a three-point attempt. Team Stackhouse led only by six going into the final quarter.

Team Stackhouse had plenty of opportunities to put the game away, but missed six straight free throws in the final minute. Adrian Woodard's tip-in for Coaches in Christ trimmed the margin to three, but with 16.5 seconds remaining, Williams finally hit a free throw. Team Stackhouse improved their record to 6-0, defeating Coaches in Christ, 48-43.

Although the game may not have been like the high scoring thriller that preceded it, Stackhouse was content with the way his team found a way to get the win.

"These guys want to get better," Stackhouse said. "Obviously they don't get a lot of chances to play with Reggie [Bullock] and Harrison [Barnes] and all those guys, but we got the chance to get them some minutes."

Stackhouse also noted that an undefeated record his team is working for an undefeated regular season.

"We want to go into the tournament with the number one seed. That's a goal of ours."