Tigers grind out win against Carl Junction

Tuesday, December 7, 2004

Nevada senior Ben Wilson uses the glass after going strong to the basket during the Tigers' 49-45 win over Carl Junction at the Carthage Invitational Saturday. Nevada finished third in the tournament with a 2-1 record.

By Joe Warren

Nevada Daily Mail

It is becoming a familiar theme for the Nevada Tigers. Play hard, limit mistakes and give yourself a chance to win the ballgame.

That's what Nevada did when they lost to Joplin in a heartbreaker, 57-56 on Thursday.

It's what the Tigers did again Saturday, when they beat Carl Junction, 49-45.

The Tigers played hard Saturday, overcoming another size disadvantage like the one they had against Joplin.

The Tigers limited mistakes, only turning the ball over four times, including only one in the entire second half.

And in the end, the Tigers came out on top, holding off a game Carl Junction team in the fourth quarter.

"From a fan's standpoint, it was ultimately ugly," Nevada coach John McNeley said referring to the low point totals. "But it's a pretty win because we dug down and played with some heart."

The Tigers battled inconsistency all game. First it was the defense not getting to the perimeter, then it was trying to play without point guard and offensive catalyst Ben Wilson while he struggled with foul trouble.

Then the player who started out scoring 11 of the team's first 13 points suddenly went cold and the Tigers had to find a way to put the ball in the basket.

In the first quarter Carl Junction's Lance Packard hit two three-pointers, as the Nevada defense was slow to rotate to the wing in their 2-3 zone. That allowed Carl Junction to build a 15-11 lead.

The Tigers were able to stay in the ballgame because junior J.R. Mills came out of the gates on fire. Mills scored 11 of his 13 points in the first period, helping the Tigers forge a 15-15 tie after one quarter of play.

Then with 6:34 left in the second period, Wilson picked up his third foul, and from there the Tiger offense was out of sync until he returned in the second half.

Making matters worse was that Mills, who could not miss in the first quarter, could not buy a bucket the rest of the game.

Bailing the offense out was a stiffening Tiger defense, which started getting to the perimeter in the zone and effectively kept Carl Junction from doing anything on the scoreboard.

At the half Carl Junction had a slim 23-22 lead.

In the second half the Tigers were able to control the tempo a little more and sophomore Bryan Campbell finally got going.

Playing inspired on the defensive end, Campbell was able to translate that to the offensive end as well. The returning leading scorer from last season, Campbell was held to 4 points in the first half, and only one field goal.

Campbell scored 10 of his game-high 21 points in the third period as the Tigers took a 36-35 lead into the fourth quarter.

In the fourth period, Nevada simply took care of the basketball and made just enough free throws to keep Carl Junction from getting a lead.

The Tigers did not trail the final 10 minutes of the game, but Carl Junction was able to keep it close.

McNeley was happy that a number of people stepped up, including Mills early and Campbell late.

"Without (Mills), we would have been digging out of a hole," McNeley said.

As part of Campbell's surge, he hit three from the perimeter.

"The great thing about that is he made the three threes, but it was the ball movement that kept getting him open," McNeley said.

McNeley was happy the Tigers were able to keep the game close without Wilson running the offense.

"We're so much more in control of things with (Wilson) in there," he said.

McNeley could not remember a time when the Tigers took better care of the basketball overall. The four turnovers was a stark contrast to the season opener five days earlier when Nevada turned it over 25 times.

"I don't think I've ever had a team have 25 (turnovers), and I don't think I've ever had a team have four," McNeley said.