Kirkwood High School boys varsity basketball hosted the Lafayette Lancers on Tuesday night in a contest between teams battling challenging starts.

The Pioneers entered the game 2-2, while the Lancers stood at 1-3 after losses to top area teams Chaminade and McCluer North.

Perhaps the Lancers' difficult early-season experiences instilled some tenaciousness as they fought back from an 11-point deficit in the third quarter and won, 61-60, on a field goal in the final seconds by senior forward Aereon Smith.

Following the game, Kirkwood head coach Bill Gunn expressed his frustration with his team after watching the lead slip away.

"We didn't lose this game in the last three seconds. We lost this game in the last three quarters.

"Our guys are continuing to grow as a team. We are playing hard, but are having too many mental and physical breakdowns. We will continue to put in quality time on the court to improve and play four complete quarters."

Lafayette gained confidence as Smith and junior guard Joel Pennington led the Lancers' second-half comeback. Smith had 19 points for the visitors and Pennington led all scorers with 25 points, including five 3-pointers.

Pennington moved to St. Louis last year from Michigan, and heaped praise on his new teammates following his stellar individual performance.

"It was definitely a team effort tonight, everyone stepped up and our defense came through to help us win."

The contest saw several turnovers during the first quarter with both teams unable to convert many of the resulting opportunities. Pioneers junior guard Clark Randall, who led the home team with 14 points on the evening, hit a 3-pointer late in the opening quarter to put Kirkwood up 11-6. In a preview of their second-half comeback, Lafayette fought to gain the lead at the end of the first quarter on a 3-point play by Smith, which put the Lancers up 15-13. 

Smith then began the second quarter with a defensive rejection of a layup attempt by Kirkwood senior guard Stefan Moore. The Lancers were unable to benefit from the turnover, and both teams ended up trading baskets to knot the score at 23 at the midway point of the second quarter.

Moore redeemed himself with a 3-pointer a few seconds later and Kirkwood junior guard Myles Artis added a pair of free throws to establish a 28-23 lead for the Pioneers as halftime approached. Kirkwood continued to outscore the Lancers as the second quarter ended, and the Pioneers took a 34-28 advantage into the intermission.

With Pennington in foul trouble as the third quarter began, Lafayette needed to avoid additional violations and play strong defense. It was able to do this with Smith grabbing an offensive board and scoring to cut the Pioneers lead to four points.

Kirkwood was able to regroup, however, and established its largest lead of the game at 41-30 as Randall and freshman forward Evan Booker hit field goals deep into the third quarter.

The turning point for Lafayette began with Pennington's second 3-pointer of the game, and continued with a field goal by the junior guard to cut the lead to 45-39. Pennington struck three more 3-pointers in the third quarter as the Lancers ate away at the Kirkwood lead.

The third quarter ended with Kirkwood clinging to a 51-49 lead.

It looked like the Lancers might succumb to foul trouble as the fourth quarter began as Smith was called for his third foul early in the period. But the Lancers remained focused and tied the game on a field goal by junior center Luke Kreienkamp.

With just over two minutes left, the Lancers had pulled ahead, 59-56, but Artis drove the lane for a basket to make it a one-point game. Seconds later a big defensive board by Lancers junior forward Nick Messer gave Lafayette head coach Scott Allen an opportunity to call a timeout and assess his strategy with a one-point lead and control of the ball.

Pennington received the ball on the Lancers inbound pass but a foul by Kreienkamp sent Kirkwood junior forward Connor Jacobs to the free-throw line, where he made both shots to put Kirkwood up 60-59. Things seemed to be going the Pioneers' way when Artis intercepted a Lafayette pass on the next play, but the ball went out of bounds and the Lancers regained ball control with seconds remaining. That set up Smith's dramatic field goal and the Lafayette victory.

It was a close game throughout, and Allen was not surprised by the ending.

"Every time we get together with Kirkwood it's a spirited game and it seems to come down to the end, tonight we came out on top."

The Pioneers play next against Ft. Zumwalt South on Dec. 17 in the GAC/Suburban shootout.