Staff report

CONCORD — West Rowan senior Will Givens Jr. was on and Robinson standout Londen Roseman was out, so the stage was set for the Falcons to upset the second-place Bulldogs.

Givens did his part. He made eight 3-pointers and poured in 32, so the upset almost happened, but not quite. West’ couldn’t get a tough layup that would’ve tied it to fall in the final seconds, and Robinson held on 65-62 in another South Piedmont Conference thriller played on Friday in the Robinson gym.

The Falcons have played their last three against Concord, Central Cabarrus and Robinson, and that’s a three-game losing streak waiting to happen for most people. It has meant a three-game slide for West.

West (11-10, 7-7) has dropped to a tie for fourth in the SPC with Carson. West has swept Carson and owns the tiebreaker with the Cougars, but Carson is very likely to finish 9-7 with league games left with the bottom two — South Rowan and East Rowan. West plays South on Tuesday, but the last game of the regular season for the Falcons — Northwest Cabarrus’ Senior Night — could be a very challenging game.

Givens, who tied his career high, made three 3-pointers early. Elijah Holmes chipped in with two buckets, and the Falcons led 19-14 after a quarter.

When Givens drilled his fifth 3-pointer of the night, the Falcons led 34-22 late in the second quarter. That was the wakeup call for Robinson, which realized it was in for a fight. The Bulldogs got the last five of the half to trail 34-27, and their momentum carried over to the third quarter.

The Bulldogs (16-5, 12-2) made four 3-pointers in the third quarter while shutting out Givens. Robinson led 48-42 going to the fourth.

That’s when Givens heated up again. He had a 15-point fourth quarter with three 3s and the Falcons, who had been down eight, climbed back into it. Brant Graham made a 3-pointer to cut Robinson’s lead to 62-59 with 15 seconds left.

After Robinson split two free throws, Givens made his eighth 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 63-62 with 10 seconds left.

Robinson made one free throw with five seconds left, but had a second make waved off by a lane violation.

West trailed 64-62, as Norman, West’s rugged point guard, headed down the court and straight for the rim with a full head of steam. He got there with enough time left, but it was a difficult straight-on layup at full speed and with defenders challenging. The ball danced on the rim, but fell off, and Robinson, which tacked on an additional free throw with one second left, won by three.

Robinson got 13 of its 17 fourth-quarter points at the foul line and outscored West 16-1 at the line in the second half.

Brian Rowe, a high-flyer who is always a tough matchup for the Rowan teams, had 20 for Robinson, while Jamell Reid scored 16. Isaac Lee came off the bench to splash three 3-pointers.

West            19   15   8   20   — 62

Robinson   14   13   21   17   — 65

WEST — Givens 32, Holmes 7, Graham 7, Kennedy 6, Young 4, Tucker 4, Norman 2.

ROBINSON — Rowe 20, Reid 16, Lee 9, Harlee 7, Tillman 6, Frazier 5, Speller 2.