(Flory Bidunga pictured from December)

 

On Wednesday night, Arsenal Tech (17-5) drove up U.S. Route 31 to play Kokomo (14-6). The game saw 11 lead changes and eight ties before a controversial call influenced the outcome.

 

Dayveon Turner helped Tech sprint to an early 11-6 lead. He threw a fantastic alley-oop to Antonio Lisenbee in transition. Plus, Turner scored eight first-quarter points.

 

Tech received two technical fouls in the first quarter. The first technical came after RaSheed Jones created a steal and threw down a dunk on the fastbreak. After the slam, Jones received the tech. Later in the quarter, Reggie Bass and Patrick Hardimon collected double techs in a mix-up. Unfortunately, there were more technical fouls to come.

 

Kokomo sophomore Flory Bidunga dominated the glass from the tip. He tallied ten rebounds, six on the offensive side, during his first six minutes of playing time. He also scored five points.

 

Tech led 17-13 after one.

 

Turner kept the hot hand to start the second period. The senior guard splashed two deep three-pointers, then made two free throws following a Zavion Bellamy technical foul. Turner scored 16 first-half points.

 

Freshman Zion Bellamy gave the WildKats a boost off the bench. He tallied five points, three assists, and two rebounds to help Kokomo take a short-lived lead late in the half.

 

D’Faybiean Pittman and Jones scored the final four points of the half to give Tech the 35-32 lead going to the locker room.

 

Bidunga scored the first eight points of the second half for Kokomo. His hands are fantastic when catching lobs or fending off defenders in the post. In addition, Bidunga abused the rim with his dunks in the third quarter.

 

Despite Bidunga’s scoring early in the third, Tylan Harris knocked down a three-pointer to give Tech a 46-41 lead. Reggie Bass scored the first six Tech points of the third to help the Titans gain that advantage.

 

Tech’s lead did not last long as Shayne Spear found his shooting rhythm. He knocked down two triples in short order, and Hardimon hit a three-pointer between the Spear shots. The hot shooting resulted in a Kokomo 11-0 run to take a 52-46 lead.

 

The final period started with the lead seesawing back and forth, but Kokomo built a four-point lead with three minutes to play as Bidunga scored in the paint off a Hardimon feed. And it looked like Kokomo would build on the lead, but Harris picked the pocket of Zavion Bellamy before nailing a deep two-pointer.

 

With 1:45 left, Turner took a handoff from Jones and drilled a 23-footer from the left side to tie the game at 68.

 

Zavion Bellamy answered by scoring the following Kokomo points, including a 12-footer to give the WildKats a 70-68 lead with 1:20 remaining.

 

Harris found Pittman diving to the basket for a dunk following a timeout. It tied the game at 70, but Pittman pulled himself up slightly on the rim, and an official whistled a technical foul for hanging on the rim.

 

Bellamy smoothly converted two more free throws.

 

After Zion Bellmany missed the front-end of the bonus, Damon Turner drew up a backdoor play for Bass. The cut found Bass open at the rim, but Bidunga came from the weak side to block the shot at the rim. Spear came down with the rebound before sealing the game with two free throws.

 

Kokomo walked away with a 74-70 victory.

 

Bidunga led Kokomo with 23 points, 15 rebounds, and four blocks. Zavion Bellamy added 18 points, and Spear tallied 16 points, four assists, and four rebounds. Zion Bellamy contributed eight points, five assists, and three rebounds. Hardimon recorded four points and six rebounds.

 

Turner scored 19 points to lead Tech. Bass and Jones each scored 13 points. Bass added five rebounds, three steals, and two assists. Jones contributed seven rebounds, five steals, and two assists. Lisenbee tallied seven points and ten rebounds in 17 minutes of action. Harris recorded eight points and four assists. Matthew Spears added four points.