Sand Sharks’ Kilminster shows clutch touch
When Alejandro Ralat graduated after his one year running the point for the USCB men’s basketball team, coach Ron Fudala knew he had a big role to fill.
Everyone association with Sand Sharks basketball is thrilled he found Evan Kilminster to fill it.
The pass-first point guard from Australia via College of Charleston called his own number at the buzzer on two occasions last week, each time delivering an improbable game-winner to lift USCB to a pair of key Peach Belt Conference wins and secure PBC Player of the Week honors.
Kilminster drained a fall-away jumper from the right corner just ahead of the horn to give USCB an 83-82 win over Flagler in The Cove, and he followed it up with another turnaround jumper on the final possession of a 77-75 win at Columbus State, helping the Sand Sharks climb back within a half-game of the league leaders.
Kilminster played 40 minutes in the overtime contest at home, finishing with 18 points, 14 rebounds, and five assists and scoring both the tying bucket that forced overtime and the game-winner. Against the Cougars, Kilminster put up 12 points, five rebounds, and five assists and again delivered the winning shot.
When Ralat entered the scene as a transfer from D1 mid-major Florida Atlantic who was ready to trade his big-time backup role for a starring turn at the D2 level, his court vision and ability to process and adjust on the fly immediately elevated Fudala’s program, creating opportunities for a stable of overlooked talents to pile up numbers.
With a veteran guard who could control the pace and create for his teammates holding the reins of USCB’s up-tempo offense, the Sand Sharks flourished in the program’s second season and made an unexpected run to the championship game of the Peach Belt Conference Tournament, falling to USC Aiken in the final after Ralat went out with a serious knee injury that ended his brief but blinding tenure with the Sand Sharks.
Ralat is now back home in Puerto Rico playing professionally, but another imported player with world-class skills has taken his place. Like Ralat a year ago, Kilminster was tired of fighting for minutes and riding the bench at College of Charleston, so he brought his game down the coast and immediately stepped into Ralat’s rather spacious shoes.
They’re a perfect fit, and Kilminster is exactly what Fudala’s roster needed.
He’s cool, calm, and collected at all times, keeps his head up and on a swivel, and is more likely to reward a teammate’s well-timed cut or ability to get open on the perimeter than look for his own shot.
Until it’s crunch time. Then he wants the ball in his hands, and he’s going to create for himself more often than not.
And, brother, does he deliver.
Kilminster now has three buzzer-beaters to his credit this season — one at UNC Pembroke early in the season before back-to-back game-winners the first half of January. He also gets to the foul line frequently and shoots a smooth 83 percent from the stripe.
When Fudala landed Ralat, we knew it was a harbinger of things to come. Pulling a D1 transfer with that caliber of skills to a fledgling D2 program in its second year was a major coup, and Fudala has pulled off another one with Kilminster. Because both have shown how a discarded talent can be reborn in The Cove, and that should help the pipeline keep flowing.
We’ve quickly grown accustomed to the level of success Fudala’s program has achieved, but we can’t lose sight of how special that really is — and we have to give thanks to a couple of stars who weren’t too proud to drop down a level when they were looking for a home.
We’re glad they picked the Lowcountry’s home team.
Justin Jarrett is the sports editor of The Island News and is the founder of Lowco Sports. He has a passion for sports and community journalism and a questionable sense of humor.
