Perry cut a 15-point deficit with six minutes left to play to only two points five minutes later, but a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer was off the mark, allowing visiting Roland-Story to escape with a 67-64 non-conference win Saturday.
A spectacular behind-the-back pass from Alex Teig as he fell out of bounds under the basket landed directly in the hands of a wide-open Tyler Hovick in the corner, with the senior draining the final of his five 3-pointers for a 61-46 R-S lead with 6:40 left in the game.
Perry responded to the big play with a big-time rally fueled by a pair of Kyle Nevitt 3-pointers. The Bluejays (5-5 overall) cut their deficit to 63-58 in just three minutes, but a Colin Greene trey moved the Norsemen (9-2) in front, 66-58.
A Shammond Ivory basket and hoops from Conner Nielsen and Nevitt brought Perry to within 66-64 with 77 seconds of action remaining. The Jays were unable to tie the game, with Teig fouled with 9.7 seconds left. He hit the first of two foul shots to create a three-point lead, with Nevitt forced to take a well-defended 25-footer that was off the mark as the final seconds elapsed.
John Barclay scored nine of his 14 points in the first half and sparked R-S to a quick 9-2 lead, only to have Perry surge in front, 12-11, after one frame. The Norsemen held a 33-31 advantage at the break, and owned a 54-46 lead at the end of three quarters.
Nevitt led Perry with 23 points, with Ivory adding 15 and Janier Puente 12. Nielsen finished with seven points, with three points from Alex Long and baskets from Ryan Rathje and Solomon Pierce completing the Perry scoring tab.
Hovick had 21 points, Barclay 14 and Teig 13 for R-S, with Greene adding eight points. Brandon McCoy had four points, Austin Hobbs three and Colten Arnold and Will McGraw two apiece for the guests. Barclay had eight rebounds, as did McCoy, with Teig clearing six boards while Hovick finished with eight assists.
Perry will host Bondurant-Farrar Tuesday before visiting Boone Friday when they return to Raccoon River Conference play.
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