AM
G-Men bring home championship trophy
Graham (64) Vs. Union (59)
By ANTHONY STEVENS
for the Daily Telegraph

BRISTOL, Va. — The G-Men made a long trip to extreme southwestern Virginia and will be going home with a trophy.

Trailing by one entering the fourth quarter, Graham made a series of big plays and held on for a 64-59 victory over Union. The G-Men are the Alpha Natural Resources Classic champions.

“I couldn’t be prouder of how my guys played,” said Graham coach Glynn Carlock. “We were able to fight through and win a holiday tournament. We’ve had a tremendous weekend, the kids are growing up, before my eyes.

“I can’t say enough about the focus we had. Even staying a night in a hotel, they were in bed and focused. We had practice today and it was just complete focus by a group of young men with a lot of character.”

Union had taken a 46-43 lead on a 3 by Raashaun Noaks with 50 seconds to play in the third quarter.

Graham (6-1) slowly worked the ball and just when it appeared time was about to run out, point guard Tony Hood broke down the defense and drove in for a layup to pull the G-men within one going to the fourth quarter.

At the start of the final stanza, after the Bears missed a shot it was Hood again driving in for a bucket. A Union turnover and Hood swished the nylon with a 3 from the left wing to put Graham up 50-46.

“We made some adjustment to try to get Hood in the teeth of the zone from the wing,” Carlock said. “That adjustment allowed him to get a couple of big buckets. For about two or three possessions it allowed him to get away from the defense. That coupled with some late free throws gave us the win.”

When Noaks hit a long 3-pointer for the Bears with less than a minute to play, they were forced to foul to stop the clock. Colby Hill hit 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch and Hook was 2-of-2 from the line as the G-men pulled away late for the win.

The Bears are extremely athletic but a strong defense by Graham wouldn’t allow them to get into a comfort zone. Union had a couple of shots at the rim at critical times late in the game but they didn’t fall.

“We were right in it,” Union coach Zack Moore said. “We had some chances down the stretch. I thought we played well. Those two late possessions when we missed shots at the rim really hurt. But give Graham credit, they made the plays and kept the pressure on us.” Hood finished with 24 points and was named the tournament Most Valuable Player for his efforts. He is definitely one of the top point guards around. Thomas Clarke was also solid for Graham with 15 points.

James Mitchell (18 points), Noaks (17) and Tanner Hall (11) were the scoring leaders for the Bears.

“This week has been really good for us,” remarked Moore. “We’ve played four straight nights against really good teams. We got better this week and that’s why we wanted to come here.”

GRAHAM (64)

Hood 9 2-3 24, Workman 2 1-2 6, Clarke 6 0-4 15, Hill 0 8-10 8, Dalton 3 0-0 6, Morgan 2 0-0 5, Simpson 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 11-19 64.

UNION (59)

Gavin 3 0-2 6, Spears 2 0-0 4, Hall 5 0-0 11, Mitchell 7 3-6 18, Noaks 6 0-0 17, Barker 1 0-0 3. Totals 24 3-8 59.

Graham 16 12 17 19—64

Union 11 19 16 13—59

3-point goals – Graham 9 (Hood 4, Morgan 1, Workman 1, Clarke 3), Union 8 (Hall 1, Barker 1, Mitchell 1, Noaks 5). Total fouls – Graham 13, Union 15. Fouled out - none. Technicals – none.
Game Scoreboard
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 OT SCORE
Graham 16 12 17 19 0 64
Union 11 19 16 13 0 59
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