The best in the West got together on Wednesday February 1st in what turned out to be a true test of focus, and toughness.

South Puget Sound at 6-0 took on 6-0 Lower Columbia and it wasn't settled until an overtime session. The Clippers extended their win streak to 12 games with a 75-74 victory at Myklebust Gym.  The Devils nine game win streak was agonizingly snapped when South Puget Sound rallied from 24 points down in the first half to steal the win.

LCC came out on fire early led by the long distance shooting of Spencer Sweet who hit three first half three pointers. The Devils hit 8 for 13 from long range in the first half in taking the 24 point lead.

LCC led by 13 points at half, 43-30, and everyone in attendance thought they had the game in hand. The Clippers had other ideas.

Behind Dez Stoudamire's 19 points, the Clippers rallied to send the game into overtime, thanks to a three pointer by Luke Chavez with less than 10 seconds to go. The Devils tried to win the game, in regulation, but the last second shot fell short, and the Clippers and the Red Devils went into overtime. This was the first overtime game this season for both teams.

In the overtime session, both teams traded points, and like at the end of regulation, it came down to the final shot for the Red Devils.

With 15.7 seconds left, in overtime Red Devils head coach Jim Roffler called a timeout to set-up the game winning play.

The possible game-winning shot went just over the bucket and time expired before the Red Devils could tip it back in to tie the game.

Marcus Lord led LCC with 17 points and eight rebounds.  Sweet ended up with 14 points, six boards and four assists.  Keun Palu-Thompson had 13 points, eight caroms and six assists.  Devin Johnson had nine points, 13 boards and four assists. 

With the loss, the Red Devils fall to 6-1 in the West, and 16-5 overall. Even though the Red Devils lost, it was a classic game to watch, and had the feel of a March Madness NCAA championship game.

The Red Devils will shake off this tough loss, and regroup, for their next home game, which is a non-league game, against the Multnomah J.V., at 1 pm on Saturday February 4th. There will be no women's game prior to the Multnomah J.V. game, as the women have a bye that day.

The non-leaguer will help the Devil flush the loss to SPSCC and get ready for a key road trip to Pierce on Wednesday February 8th.

The next league home game is Saturday, February 11^th, as their rival the Tacoma Community Titans come into town. Tip-off for the women is at 5 pm, while the men tip-off at 7 pm.