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Greyhounds' streak stretches to seven
Fort Scott Community College's men never trailed Saturday afternoon as the Greyhounds defeated Brown Mackie, 96-83, in a Region VI contest at Arnold Arena. The 'Hounds avenged an overtime loss to the Lions in Salina on December 13.
It was the seventh consecutive win for the Greyhounds (6-1 Region VI, 11-13 overall), who are on their longest winning streak since the 1999-2000 team won nine straight in a year they finished 19-12.
The Greyhounds built a 48-32 lead at the half with some good 3-point shooting and a defensive effort that held Brown Mackie (3-4, 12-13) to 9-of-27 field-goal shooting. The lead grew to nearly 20 points with 12 minutes left in the game but the Lions cut the deficit to 10, 67-57, with 10:22 to go.
Fort Scott pulled away in part by going 22 of 24 at the free-throw line in the second half. The largest lead was 21 points, 83-62, with 5:40 to go after Anthony Cerda made consecutive shots.
FSCC head coach Michael Cook felt that the lulls in the second half that allowed Brown Mackie to cut into the lead are things that need to be addressed.
"I'm happy with the win. I don't want anybody to think I'm not," Cook said. "But if we accept that effort -- for about 15 minutes, we kind of lulled -- then we can't win on the road. Then we can't win the games we need to win. I'm going to push them. I'm going to try to get more out of them. But I'm happy with the win."
Overall in the game, the teams combined to shoot 59 free throws as the officials called 47 fouls. Cook said that on days like this when the game is called tighter, it's up to the Greyhounds to learn to adjust.
"We didn't adjust well to the referees the way they called it," Cook said. "They called it tighter than we're used to seeing. But we have to adjust to that.
Eddie Sims finished with 27 points to lead the 'Hounds as he made 7 of 11 shots from the field and 12 of 13 at the free-throw line. Dametrius Walker added 26 points as he made 9 of 12 fielders and Jeremiah Fleming scored 13 points.
Nygel Jones scored 23 points to lead Brown Mackie. Christo Majok and Kevin Loving each added 17 and Chad Mordecai finished with 13.
Fort Scott finished the game 31 of 54 from the field for 57 percent and 26 of 32 at the charity stripe. Brown Mackie shot 49 percent on 28 of 57 and also won the battle of the boards, 33-24. This was the fourth time during their winning streak that the 'Hounds have come away with a victory despite being outrebounded.
The Greyhounds will play on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. at Arnold Arena as they face Division II No. 13 North Arkansas in a non-conference game. The Pioneers are 19-4 this season, which includes two wins over Fort Scott this season. North Arkansas won in Harrison, Ark., 103-65, on November 7 and 90-67 in the Cowley Thanksgiving Classic in Arkansas City on November 28.
BROWN MACKIE: Smith 3-9 1-1 8, Loving 7-13 2-2 17, Mordecai 4-8 3-3 13, Jones 7-11 8-11 23, Gabriel 0-0 0-2 0, Wenyin 2-3 1-2 5, Majok 5-9 6-6 17, Frager 0-1 0-0 0, Abdelrahim 0-1 0-0 0, Olenslager 0-2 0-0 0. TOTALS: 28-57 21-27 83.
FORT SCOTT: Walker 9-12 7-10 26, Sims 7-11 12-13 27, Fleming 5-14 0-0 13. Owens 3-4 0-0 8, Freeman 0-1 0-0 0, Cerda 2-4 2-2 6, Brull 1-2 2-2 5, Benbow 2-4 0-0 4, Thompson 2-2 3-5 7. TOTALS: 31-54 26-32 96.
Halftime: Fort Scott, 48-32.
Three-point field goals: Brown Mackie 6-13 (Mordecai 2-4, Loving 1-1, Majok 1-1, Jones 1-2, Smith 1-5), Fort Scott 8-19 (Fleming 3-10, Owens 2-2, Walker 1-2, Sims 1-2, Brull 1-2, Cerda 0-1).
Total fouls: Brown Mackie 23, Fort Scott 27. Fouled out: Walker. Technical foul: Wenyin.
Rebounds: Brown Mackie 33 (Jones 7, Majok 7), Fort Scott 24 (Walker 5). Assists: Brown Mackie 10 (Majok 4), Fort Scott 17 (Sims 6). Turnovers: Brown Mackie 16, Fort Scott 10. Steals: Brown Mackie 2 (Smith, Majok), Fort Scott 12 (Walker 5). Blocked shots: Brown Mackie 1 (Wenyin), Fort Scott 3 (Walker, Fleming, Benbow).