CLINTON - Michael Gant got a standing ovation from the Pillow Academy faithful when he came out of the dressing room.
He earned it after scoring all 24 of his points in the final 10 minutes, including 19 in the fourth period, to help the Mustangs pull of a stunning 69-61 come-from-behind win over Bowling Green in the first round of the Overall Tournament here Tuesday at Mississippi College.
"Unbelievable," said PA coach Steven Makamson, whose team outscored the Bucaneers 35-16 in the fourth period. "We were trying to figure a way to get back into it, and (assistant coach) Nick Serio told me to get the ball to No. 31."
Good advice.
Three minutes into the fourth, Gant caught fire to help the Mustangs finish the game with a 28-9 run - turning an 11-point deficit into a mind-blowing eight-point victory.
Gant, in his first year at Pillow after transferring from Berry (Ala.) High School, hit five straight 3-pointers in the fourth and finished 5-of-6 from long range.
"Coach told me to shoot it. After that first one went down, I was just feeling it," Gant said. "I've scored more points than that in a game before in Alabama, but I've never been that hot.
"The biggest thing for us, though, was that we started getting some defensive stops. It was a team effort to do that. If we didn't step it up on defense, we were going home."
"Michael has had a tough year because he was not used to our style coming in from a public school," Makamson said. "We've known he was a fantastic player."
Gant, a senior guard, hit 8-of-14 (57 percent) from the field and was 3-for-3 at the foul line. He also had three steals and two rebounds.
Gant's fourth 3-pointer came with 2:09 left and put his team up for the first time in the game at 59-58. His final trey put the Mustangs ahead to stay at 62-61 with 1:27 to play.
Senior point guard Chase King made sure Gant's heroic effort didn't go for naught when he drilled two free throws - his first two points of the game - to hand PA a 64-61 advantage with 27.7 seconds left.
Following a Bowling Green turnover, junior guard Matt Taylor knocked down two more free throws to ice the game. He finished 4-for-4 from the line to notch six points.
Senior guard Pate Shackelford hit a pair of 3-pointers in the fourth to help spark the Mustangs' comeback and finished with 15 points.
Taylor Young and Markus Thomas added six points each for Pillow. Thomas had a team-high four steals.
Senior Jacob Land chipped in with five points, two steals and a team-high four rebounds.
Derek Varnado paced Bowling Green with 22 points.
Pillow (24-7) played this afternoon in the quarterfinals against the No. 2 seed from Class A, West Memphis, which got a first-round bye.
The winner advances to a 6 p.m. semifinal contest Friday.
