Basketball Has Tough Loss at Home

Erie dropped a tough 87–83 contest to Cuyahoga County Community College (Triceratops) Saturday at the Flickinger Center.

The Kats fell behind early and trailed 51–38 at halftime, but responded with an impressive second-half effort. Bright Ufele opened the half with a jumper and layup to ignite the comeback, and Moudou Diakhate followed with two free throws before Elijah Dixson connected from three to cut the deficit. A JohnPaul Agu three-pointer later pulled Erie within five at 55–50 as the defense began creating momentum with steals and stops.

Erie continued to chip away throughout the half. Diakhate added a jumper, William Jefferson Issah scored inside, and Andre Wright helped fuel the push in transition. With under nine minutes to play, Wright scored and completed a three-point play, and Saliou Diokhane finished inside to bring the Kats within 71–66.

The Kats made one final surge late. Diokhane scored on a layup and converted an and-one to trim the deficit to 82–79, and a Diakhate jumper cut it to 85–82 with under two minutes remaining. Erie had opportunities in the final possessions, but Cuyahoga converted key free throws in the closing seconds to seal the win.

Despite the loss, Erie outscored the Triceratops in the second half and nearly erased a 13-point halftime deficit to make it a one-possession game in the final minute.

Diokhane led Erie with 17 points, while Wright added 14 and Taesyn Slating finished with 13.