L. A Baptist Captures Alpha League Title at the Buzzer, 39-37

In the madness that was the L. A. Baptist gymnasium Friday night, the Knights’ Gary Kim had no idea how much time was left as he dribbled the ball at the top of the key.

“We were trying to run a play to Robert Dodson,” said Kim, a 5-11 guard. “But they were cheating out too far on him. He pointed to the clock and that told me that time was running out. So I thought, ‘Take it to the hole.’ ”

And Kim did, driving by Montclair Prep’s Todd Bowser and hitting a layup with one second left to give L. A. Baptist the Alpha League title with a 39-37 win. The Knights finished league play with a 12-2 record (20-3 overall), while the Mounties settled for second with a 11-3 mark (16-6 overall).

Kim’s score set a chaotic celebration, as the Knight fans poured onto the court to congratulate the victories. The players took turns cutting down portions of the nets and the Baptist coaching staff broke out the apple cider.

Kim, who finished with eight points, seemed in a daze when discussing the winning basket 15 minutes after the final buzzer.

“It all happened so fast,” he said.

That is not a way to describe the game’s action. L. A. Baptist spent much of the second half in a delay game. With Montclair Prep refusing to come out of its zone defense, the Knights simply dribbled the ball around for several minutes at a time.

“It wasn’t a good game,” said Montclair Prep Coach Howard Abrams, who was not too pleased with the Knights’ decision to stall. “We didn’t play well, but it was hard to play under the circumstances.”

Abrams didn’t bring his team out of a zone because, he said, his two best man-to-man players were not there. Starters Brian Moss and Craig Honig were held out of the game because of “problems at school,” Abrams said. He didn’t elaborate.

L. A. Baptist Coach Maury Neville didn’t seem to care how Abrams felt about the delay game. “That’s part of the game,” he said. “We were going to read the tempo of the floor and if we didn’t like what we saw, we were going to delay. We wanted them to play man but they wouldn’t.”

Bowser, who led the Mounties with 14 points, opened the fourth quarter with a layin to reduce the Knights’ lead to 32-31. L. A. Baptist then ate away nearly five minutes with its delay. Dodson, who had a team-high 13 points, made two free throws with 2:52 left for a three-point Knight lead.

Bowser then hit a basket, followed by a Dodson free throw with 2:18 left. With 1:52 remaining, the Mounties’ John Quick tied the game at 35 with a jumper. Mark Williamson (12 points) hit a layup with 1:07 left for a two-point Knight lead, but Jeff Light countered with a turnaround jumper with 27 seconds left.

L. A. Baptist didn’t call timeout after Light’s basket, instead opting to go for the win right away. “I felt like we were disciplined enough on offense where we didn’t have to call time,” Neville said.

As a result, the Knights can now be called Alpha League champs.