OAKLAND, Calif. Head-Royce came back from 10 points down and traded the lead with College Park well into the second half, but the Jayhawks lost 56-54 at home Tuesday. College Park went 12-for-16 at the free throw line, and Head-Royce dropped to 10-5 this summer.
College Park scored first, and Sanjay Ernst tied the game at 2 with a pair of free throws. Jack Peay then hit two 3-pointers, the second on a pass from Loryan Boyette-Tindall, for an 8-6 lead, the largest Head-Royce held all game. College Park answered with a 7-0 run to go up 13-8. After a Tucker Peay basket, College Park added another 7-0 run and led 20-10.
The Jayhawks chipped away. Boyette-Tindall hit a 3-pointer off an assist from Nick Taubes, and Alex Jones made a free throw. After a College Park 3-pointer made it 23-14, Head-Royce scored six straight points: a Tucker Peay basket, then baskets off turnovers by Taubes and Jones. Jones then hit a 3-pointer from Ernst, and Head-Royce trailed 25-23 at halftime.
Jones opened the second half with another 3-pointer from Ernst, which finished a 6-0 run and put Head-Royce ahead 26-25. The game had 11 lead changes and four ties, and most of them came in this stretch as Taubes, Jack Peay and Jones matched College Park basket for basket. A Taubes basket put the Jayhawks ahead 36-35. College Park then scored the next six points, four of them at the free throw line, and led 41-36. Head-Royce never led again.
Taubes' 3-pointer made it 41-39, and a Jack Peay basket made it 43-41. College Park then hit a 3-pointer and scored off a turnover to go up 48-41. Taubes answered with six straight points (a 3-pointer from Jack Peay, a basket off a turnover and a free throw) to cut the lead to 48-47. College Park scored the next two baskets. Head-Royce stayed close behind a Jack Peay putback and a Taubes basket, but two College Park free throws made it 56-51. Taubes hit a 3-pointer for the final points, and the Jayhawks came up two short. He scored 11 of Head-Royce's last 13 points.
Taubes led all Head-Royce scorers with 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting, including 3-of-5 from 3-point range. He added five rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block. Jack Peay scored 13 points with three 3-pointers and had three assists. Jones, a junior guard, scored 12 points with three 3-pointers and added four rebounds and three steals. Ernst had four assists, all on 3-pointers. Boyette-Tindall had three steals and five rebounds, and Tucker Peay scored four points off the bench.
Both teams made 20 field goals, but College Park made them at a better rate, 51.3 percent to Head-Royce's 37.7 percent. The biggest difference came at the free throw line. Head-Royce was called for 18 fouls to College Park's seven and went 4-for-5 on free throws to College Park's 12-for-16. The Jayhawks made 10 of 23 3-pointers, good for 30 of their 54 points. They turned the ball over only four times and forced 12 College Park turnovers with 11 steals, but they scored just six points off those turnovers. College Park outrebounded Head-Royce 26-21. The Jayhawks had 10 offensive rebounds but turned them into only two second-chance points. The loss dropped Head-Royce to 10-5.