Bayonne Wins it for Florida College at the Buzzer

PANAMA CITY, Fla. – The Florida College Falcons defeated the (RV) SAGU Lions in one of the most thrilling games of the year 85-84 on a buzzer beater from junior guard Bryan Bayonne.

The Falcons started the game off rough, trailing by 20 points at halftime. They had 10 turnovers in the first half and shot below 45% from the free throw line. SAGU was feasting in transition as well as from beyond the arc.

The second half began as a back-and-forth affair, with FC cutting the deficit to 18 early, but SAGU responding to take a 23-point lead with 18:16 left, which would be their largest for the game. SAGU led by 18 with 8:04 remaining in the contest, from here the Falcons would really start chipping away.

FC cut it to 12 with 5 minutes left, but the Lions responded with a layup of their own to go back up 14, 79-65 with 4:56 remaining. Drew Kramer followed that possession up with an old fashioned three-point play, trimming the deficit to 11.

Deonte' Martinez then knocked in a three to cut it to eight, but SAGU responded with a bucket to regain a double figure lead with 3:38 remaining.

The Falcons cut it to 6 on a Drew Kramer dunk with 1:51 remaining, but SAGU's CJ Hall hit a critical layup with 1:22 remaining to extend the lead to 8.

Kramer answered with a three-pointer to make it 78-83. The Falcons would foul the Lions and they'd split the pair, taking a 6 point lead with 49 seconds left.

Jashavius Perdue knocked in an and-1 from Deonte' Martinez with 36 seconds remaining to make it a one-possession game. FC elected not to foul, and SAGU's CJ Hall was called for a traveling violation with 9.9 seconds remaining.

Falcons head coach Chase Teichmann used his last time out, and the Falcons came out to tie the game. SAGU elected to foul FC's Keegan Zoller with 2.9 seconds remaining, before the Falcons could get a shot off to attempt to tie the ballgame up. Zoller made the first free throw, making the score 82-84 SAGU. Zoller then perfectly (intentionally) missed the second free throw off the front iron, straight back to himself, where he gathered the ball in mid-air and kicked it out to a trailing Bryan Bayonne, who stepped into a game-winning three-pointer to win it as the final buzzer rang!

The Falcons led for a grand total of 25 seconds in the contest. The 23-point deficit they overcame is the largest in the NAIA era (2017-present). The Falcons were led in scoring by Drew Kramer with 17. Jashavius Perdue scored 14 for the second consecutive game. Bryan Bayonne chipped in 13, while Trent Lippoldt rounded out the double-digit scorers with 12.

The win moves the #25 Falcons to 7-3 on the season, and winners of three straight. The Falcons move to 3-1 against the Sooner Athletic Conference this season, with their only loss coming by 3 at the hands of #10 ranked Wayland Baptist University. This is the second buzzer-beater win for FC this season, as Cam Selders hit a 75-footer as time expired to beat Oklahoma City University on the road on November 3^rd.

Up next, the Falcons take on Loyola University-New Orleans today at 12 PM eastern in their last contest at The Battle at the Beach.