The Nevada Tigers won the opening tip in a packed house at Wynn Gym in Nevada, but Frontenac would strike first in the scoring column with a 3-pointer from the corner. Frontenac would hold onto that lead throughout the 1st quarter as Nevada went cold from the offensive side as their battled bodies from an extended football season began to show just a little bit, after the adrenaline-rush sharpshooting of the night before. With very physical play on both sides of the ball, the Tigers and Raiders went up and down the court with sometimes a bit chaotic moments of steals and turnovers finishing the 1st quarter with Frontenac up 12-5.
The 2nd quarter would show the resolve of the Nevada Tigers as Jack Cheaney finally hit the team’s first 3-pointer after the team had combined for 12 misses from beyond the arc to start the game. With a lot of motion and screens working to get players open shots at the bucket, the Tigers would claw their way back into the game. With 2 minutes to go in the first half Frontenac was still up 19-18, but an inbound pass from Brice Budd to Gabe Smith gave Nevada the lead at 20-19. Frontenac would quickly take the lead back at 21-20 after a fastbreak and would go on to hit one free throw to take a 22-20 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Nevada would get the ball coming out of the half and pick up right where they left off taking the lead back on a Kellen Braden 3-pointer with the score now at 23-22. Nevada would then go on a 9-0 run leading by as many as 7 points as they began to feel like the momentum might shift their way. Frontenac wouldn’t go away easily though, chipping away at the lead until they tied the game back up at 29 all. Gabe Smith would put the ball to the court and drive the baseline for an easy lay-in to give Nevada a 31-29 lead. With a few more trips up and down the court, Nevada would go to the bench at the end of the 3rd quarter with a lead of 31-33.
The 4th quarter would prove to be great basketball to watch for fans of both sides. Frontenac opened up the quarter with back-to-back 3’s, taking a quick 37-33 lead. The physicality and emotion of the game continued to grow as both teams laid everything they had out on the court. Coming down the court with his team down by 3, Brice Budd would pull up from the right side of the arc and find nothing but the bottom of the net tying the game up at 38 all, forcing a Frontenac time out.
With just over 4 minutes left, Nevada would lead 41-38, but some quick shots and a little lack of patience from the Tigers would let Frontenac back into the game as they tied up the score at 41 with a 3-pointer with just over 3 minutes to go in regulation. Another quick trip down the court for Nevada would give Frontenac back the ball as they played a bit of keep-away working to run down the clock. The Nevada defense showed up big and came up with a steal with 5.8 seconds remaining in regulation. Nevada was able to get a shot off, but as the rest of the night went, the rim proved to not be favorable and it would leave another 4 minutes of basketball to be played.
Nevada won the tip in overtime, however, Frontenac would go on a 5-0 run with a little help from the Nevada fouls as they carried over from the 4th quarter giving the Raiders 2 free throws with each foul from the very start of the extended period. With just under a minute to play in overtime, Frontenac had a two-possession lead at 51-46, however, the Tigers continued to give everything they had. Gabe Smith hit 7 of his game-high 9 points in the overtime period, trying to keep the Tigers winning record going. Off a missed shot Brice Budd battled for two offensive rebounds in a row to give the Tigers the opportunity to tie the game with a pair of free throws. He went 1 of 2 at the line, Nevada gave up a quick foul and with 0.6 seconds to go in the game, Frontenac had the lead and a player standing at the free-throw line. Frontenac would hit 1 of 2 free throws and Alex Ast launched the ball to the other end with his defensive rebound, but Nevada would fall in overtime with a final score of 52-50.
After the game Head Coach Shaun Gray had a few things to say about his Tigers, including that they “did a great job of battling back and winning the 2nd and 3rd quarters to give ourselves a lead, unfortunately, a cold 4th quarter, combined with a 50% free throw number in the 4th quarter and overtime were too much for us to overcome”. He also mentioned in his post-game interview that the message to the boys in the locker room was that there was much they could learn from a loss, and although it stings, it can give them the opportunity to find their weaknesses now so that they can hone in on them and work on correcting them early in the season.
While the Tigers are not one to make excuses, there is room to say that with just roughly a week and a half into practice and two games in back-to-back nights could each have been factors in some shots that might typically go in, but that won’t stop these boys from continuing to work hard, as well as volunteer at the Salvation Army Shopping Spree bright and early at 6 am Saturday morning.
Tune in for more Nevada Tiger action next week as they travel to Pittsburg on Tuesday, 12/5 for a boy/girl doubleheader and then will finish the week with 3 games at the Carthage Invitational Tournament.
The Tigers finished the night with Jack Cheaney leading the way with 13 points, Brice Budd, Gab
e Smith, and Kellen Braden each had 9 points a piece, and for the second night in a row, all 8 players that were on the court for the Tigers put at least one bucket on the board.
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