SATURDAY’S PREP BOYS ROUNDUP: Alton pulls out Galesburg Shootout win over Rock Island

Greg Shashack, gshashack@thetelegraph.com

 Updated 12:24 pm CST, Sunday, January 27, 2019

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Greg Shashack / The Telegraph

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Alton’s Donovan Clay (11) rises up in the lane for a shot over Edwardsville defenders during the Redbirds’ Southwestern Conference victory on Tuesday at Alton High in Godfrey. The Redbirds were in Galesburg

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The 2018-19 Shootout Tour for Alton Redbirds boys basketball hit Galesburg on Saturday night.

And the Redbirds benefitted from some late drama to beat the Rock Island Rocks 59-55 in the Galesburg Shootout at John Thiel Gym.

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It was the third straight shootout victory for Alton since a Dec. 15 Ramey Shootout loss to Jennings in Webster Groves. The Redbirds beat Maine South at the Taylorville Shootout, Soldan at the SLUH/MLK Classic and now the Rocks to push Alton’s record to 16-8 and extend its winning streak to six in a row.

The Redbirds are back in shootout mode Friday to play Springfield Southeast at the Bank of O’Fallon Shootout at Panther Dome in O’Fallon. Southeast, ranked No. 3 in the Class 3A state poll, lost at Belleville West 74-73 on Saturday night to drop to 18-2.

Donovan Clay led the Redbirds past the Rocks in Galesburg with 23 points and seven rebounds. Alton, which led 24-23 at halftime, trailed by six points before getting within 39-38 after three quarters.

Rock Island would regain a six-point advantage at 44-38 before the Redbirds responded with a 13-3 run to go up 51-47. Alton’s lead was 51-50 with 26 seconds left when Clay missed two free throws. But a bench technical assessed on the Rocks, protesting an intentional foul call committed on Clay’s shot, sent Malik Smith to the line for two makes. A basket on the ensuing possession pushed Alton’s lead to five and the Rocks’ late surge came up short.