by . Green, Ohio – Canton GlenOak held off Green, 43-40, in a defensive contest Tuesday evening.
The first quarter ended with the teams tied at 10 a piece. GlenOak would take the lead in the second quarter thanks to the efforts of junior guard Ja’Corey Lipkins. He had nine of his 13 first-half points in the stanza. That plus a suffocating Eagle defense gave GlenOak a 23-19 lead going into the halftime break.
In the third quarter, GlenOak led 28-24 after a Lipkins triple. Green responded with a 6-0 run to take the lead, 30-28, with 3:08 left in the third. Mark Danner and Nik Bundalo each had a pair of baskets for the Bulldogs.
The fourth quarter was very tightly contested.
Ja’Corey Lipkins had a layup with 6:17 left in the fourth quarter had to leave the game due to cramping issues. He returned around 3 1/2 minutes later. The rest of the team stepped up in a huge way. Reese Zerger hit a triple to give the Eagles the lead, and a split pair of free throws made the score 40-37 in favor of GlenOak with 2:51 left.
Green made a couple of huge stops down the stretch to give themselves a chance. Jarrett Taylor drew a foul looking to cut into the Bulldog deficit, but only sank one of two free throws.
Brady Rollyson had a put-back to tie the score at 40 with 1:10 to play. On the next possession, Ja’Corey Lipkins drew a foul. The Eagles were in the double bonus with a chance to take the lead with :42.2 left. Lipkins hit the first and missed the second. GlenOak came up with a huge rebound off a miss that would have given Green the lead. Reese Zerger stepped to the line and calmly sank a pair of free throws with :11.8 left to increase the Eagle lead to 43-40.
The Eagle defense stepped up huge on the final possession of the game. Jaylen McElroy came up with a huge rejection of a game-tying three point attempt, and would follow it up with a steal to preserve the victory.
GlenOak (11-2) (4-2 FL) travels to Massillon Perry on Friday, January 20th to continue Federal League Conference play.
Green (9-3) (3-3 FL) hosts Massillon Jackson on Friday, January 13th to continue Federal League Conference play. The Bulldogs were led by junior Brady Rollyson, who had 16 points. Mark Danner had ten.
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