The Great Falls Electric (16-2) had a great weekend on the basketball court as they won two of their three road games. Great Falls fell to Wenatchee for the second time this season on Friday (135-129) and bounced back to take a 131-113 decision over the Bighorns on Friday evening.
Great Falls traveled to Seattle, Washington to challenge the Super Hawks at Seattle Pacific University on Saturday night where they held the lead early in the fourth quarter before Seattle tried to make a comeback bid but it was Great Falls Electric superstar Antwaan Cushingberry who stole the ball with 28 seconds to go and went in for an uncontested layup to preserve the 16th win of the season for Great Falls, 129-127. Cushingberry was one of five players in double figures. The Indiana native finished with 19 points.
Lyle Hexom was the top scorer for Great Falls with 32 points followed by Terry “TJ” Maston Jr. with 31 and KD Moore with 26. Maston also grabbed 17 rebounds for the winning team.
Seattle was led by Deon Stroud (39 points) and Nahshon George with 28. George and Nick teamed up for 29 of Seattle’s 54 total rebounds.
Lyle Hexom scored on back-to-back possessions to give Great Falls the early 5-0 advantage in the first quarter. The Electric led for the first three minutes before Seattle’s Nahshon George gave the Super Hawks their first lead at 10-9. The game stayed within six points as Seattle led until the final 35 seconds when Brandon Jones’ layup gave the Montana team a 32-31 lead. Lyle Hexom and newcomer Jeremy Harris scored the final five points with Great Falls ahead 37-34 entering the second quarter.
Chayce Polynice, the son of Olden Polynice who enjoyed a great career in the NBA with the Seattle SuperSonics and the Chicago Bulls in his 15 seasons in the NBA, scored the first six points to open the second quarter for the Super Hawks. Seattle and Great Falls kept the score close but a layup by Nahshon George with 3:44 remaining put the home team ahead 61-54. Dexter Williams Jr., KD Moore, and TJ Maston Jr. scored the final baskets before halftime as Great Falls took a 66-63 lead after two quarters.
Despite many attempts by Seattle’s offense to get back into the game, Great Falls never trailed in the third quarter and led by 15 points, 106-91.
The game got exciting eight minutes into the fourth quarter when Deon Stroud’s long distance trey evened the contest, 119-119. Both squads traded baskets with Nick Blake tying the game at 127 with 54 seconds remaining. Antwaan Cushingberry was not going to be denied as he stole the ball away from an offensive Seattle player and dribbled down the court for the layup with 28 seconds on the clock. Seattle’s David Crisp missed on a floating jumpshot with 14 seconds and Brandon Jones grabbed the defensive rebound to ensure another win for Great Falls.
