SUWANEE, GA – Winning has been the focal point of the Smyrna Stars since April. The Cobb County-based organization continued its run.

After a timeout, Rashad Lewis surveyed the floor before driving to the rim with 1.7 seconds remaining to help the Stars win the Wallace Prather Memorial Classic 67-66 over D1 Minnesota on Sunday at Suwanee Sports Academy.

Lewis’ basket was his fifth point of the game, which was the biggest of the night. Cameron Johnson finished with a team-high 23 points. Rasean Davis added 14 points.

Smyrna trailed the Minnesota-based organization 39-30 at halftime. Minnesota held the lead with its length and shooting. They controlled the pace of the game behind the play of Delshawn Strickland and Jordan Demley. The duo was unstoppable from the perimeter while also handling the Stars defensive pressure.

The Stars refused to take a backseat to D1. Smyrna’s defensive pressure turned up in the second half on Strickland and Demly, but that is when JP Macura stepped in scorching the nets in the second half.

Smyrna withstood that scoring performance before putting together its own run. The Stars also went to a guard heavy offense with Johnson, at 6-foot-4, being the tallest player on the floor. Davis orchestrated the offense, Lewis played lockdown defense and Camyrn Moye provided perimeter shooting.

Smyrna took a 61-54 lead late in the second half, but Minnesota was not about to just let the title get away without a fight. They took its final lead 66-65 with 10.7 points to play. This set up the Lewis heroics after the Stars called a timeout. D1 had a chance for a winning shot but were called for a stepping in bounds violation.

Macura scored a team-high 18 points, which included three 3-pointers in the second-half. Demley added 12 points. Strickland chipped in with 10 points.

Moye had six points for the Stars.