The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

Freshman Payne hot in Prime Time loss

Incoming Iowa freshman Cully Payne and sophomore Aaron Fuller led a comeback charge for Imprinted Sportswear/Goodfellow Printing in its Prime Time League game against Culver’s of Coralville. But the team fell short in a 97-94 defeat Monday night in North Liberty.

Down by nine with seven minutes to go, the Hawkeye duo brought Imprinted/Goodfellow back over the next four minutes. Highlights of their late-game heroics included a Fuller tip-in of a miss with 3:30 to go to tie the game at 87-87. A few possessions later, Payne hit a 3-pointer, his sixth of the night, to give his team a 92-91 lead with around two minutes left.

Suddenly, a steal turned into a fast break, with Payne feeding Fuller for the easy lay-up to go up 94-91 with just over a minute remaining.

But in the end, Northern Iowa’s Ali Farokhmanesh led Culver’s to the win by scoring the final six points of the contest in its last minute.

He took advantage of some lazy perimeter defense to hit an open trey to tie the game at 94 with 40 seconds left. He followed this up by hitting a driving lay-up and drawing a foul.

The made free throw gave Culver’s a 97-94 lead with 3.9 seconds to go.

A desperation 3-pointer from Imprinted/Goodfellow rimmed out, ensuring the Culver’s victory.

“He got some good open looks in transition,” Imprinted/Goodfellow head coach Kevin Lehman said. “We changed what we did defensively, and [it] gave us some more open-court opportunities, and he got a lot of 3s in transition.”

Fuller recorded a double-double with 19 points and 15 rebounds. Despite dominating inside the paint, he thought his jump shot was lacking.

“I think I did all right,” he said. “Jump shot wasn’t really there — I feel like I could’ve made a couple more lay-ups, but other than that, I think I did all right. I think I did pretty good on the boards.”

Although Imprinted/ Goodfellow was on the losing end, Fuller was pleased with the hot shooting of teammate Payne.

“Cully Payne has been doing great,” Fuller said. “He’s got a great jump shot and was really great tonight.”

Payne showed the ability to switch gears during the game. After attempting only four shots in the first half, he scored 16 of his 24 points in the second half, including five of his 3-pointers.

“I think I played well,” he said. “Just moving the ball and hitting open shots. I thought I played well. I took advantage of opportunities. They were really collapsing on our big guys … and it was just open stuff that I saw.”

Two other Iowa players were in action. Senior Devan Bawinkel recorded two rebounds and two assists for Imprinted/ Goodfellow but was held scoreless on 0-for-3 shooting.

Sophomore Andrew Brommer was the lone Iowa representative on Culver’s, and he finished with eight points and five rebounds.

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