Nevada boys down Carl Junction with strong fourth quarter
Jan. 24—CARL JUNCTION, Mo. — The visiting Nevada Tigers rode the strength of a dominant fourth quarter to claim a 70-50 win over the Carl Junction Bulldogs during the boys game on Tuesday night.
In one of the few local games that wasn't postponed due to inclement weather, Carl Junction managed to stay within striking distance of the Tigers three-quarters of the way, until they were outscored 23-12 in the final stanza.
Down by as many as 11 points several times, the Bulldogs clawed back to within six points at times but were never able to take the lead.
Nevada held a slim 3-point lead at 13-10 after the first quarter of play before widening that lead to 29-21 at the half. The Tigers led by as many as 11 in the second quarter, until a trey by Carl Junction's Jeff Hocut and a put back by senior Ayden Bard with under a minute to go in the half brought the Bulldogs to within six of the Tigers.
A bucket by Nevada's Drew Beachler closed scoring for the half and gave the Tigers a 29-21 advantage at the break.
Both teams logged 17 points in a third quarter that saw CJ's Bard scored 13 of his game-high 22 points. The Bulldogs went into the fourth quarter down eight at 46-38.
But the Tigers owned the final frame, with their largest lead, 64-43, coming at the 2:06 mark of the fourth.
"I just felt they (Nevada) played harder than we did," Carl Junction Head Coach Justin Pock said. "I don't think we played very well defensively and we allowed too many straight line drives to the basket. If we play defense like that, it's going to be a long season."
Nevada's Jack Cheaney paced the Nevada offense with 20 points, including three treys. Cade Beshore connected on four shots behind the arc while chipping in 16 points. Beachler and Brice Budd also cracked double figures with 13 and 10 points respectively.
Carl Junction fell to 6-13 with the loss, while Nevada improved to 8-11.
"We have to rebound better and our defense was poor the whole game," Bard said. "We've got to go out there every game and play the best we can."
The Bulldogs will look to right the ship when they travel to Lebanon on Friday.
