Seniors dominate in final home game

Nevada's Seth Owings was one of eight seniors honored before Tuesday's game at Wynn Gymnasium. Owings scored eight points and Nevada beat Carthage 57-33. [Click to enlarge]

NEVADA, Mo. -- It was truly a game for the seniors.

After an emotional pre-game ceremony honoring the eight outgoing Nevada seniors, the Tigers celebrated on the court by dominating Carthage Tuesday, 57-33.

Senior sharp-shooter J.R. Mills downed five 3-pointers in the first half and Nevada jumped out to an 18-0 first-quarter lead and the visitors never had a chance.

Mills scored the first five points of the game, knocking down his first trey and following with a layup underneath to give Nevada a 5-0 lead, less than two minutes into the game. Justin Reed scored to make it a seven-point cushion and Bryan Campbell converted a spectacular old-fashioned three-point play to put the Tigers up by double digits.

Mills got back in the action, hitting a pair of treys from the top of the key and Nathan Gragg converted a nice pass from Mills into a layup to give Nevada an 18-0 lead. Jason Adams scored for Carthage to finally end the drought, but Mills canned his fourth three of the quarter to give Nevada a 21-2 advantage after one period of play.

After Carthage scored to make it 21-4, Mills struck again, dialing long distance for the fifth and final time in the game with 6:57 left in the first half. At the time, Mills had 17 points and it was all he would need (or attempt) to score the rest of the way.

Instead, the Tigers focused on getting everybody involved offensively. Ten different Tigers got in the book as Nevada demonstrated a passing game that would rank as their best of the season. Good looks were passed up for better ones and short jumpers and layups filled the rim for Nevada, always one step ahead of the Carthage defense.

Nevada (16-8 overall, 4-3 in the Southwest Conference) would lead by as many as 31, employing a running clock for half of the fourth quarter. Carthage (12-11, 3-4) looked like they didn't know what hit them. It was a look Nevada's opponents have had recently.

Tuesday's contest was the culmination of a three-game stretch in five days that saw Nevada play undeniably its best basketball of the season thus far.

"We have definitely played our best basketball the last three ballgames," Nevada head coach John McNeley said.

The 24-point win over Carthage came on the heels of a 16-point victory over Lamar the day before, and a 30-point walloping of McDonald County Friday.

Most importantly, each of Nevada's players seem to be playing their best basketball of the season right now. Campbell, Reed and Logan Moore are attacking the rim, either converting high-percentage shots or finding wide-open teammates for easy points. Mills is on a tear from the outside. Seth Owings has been automatic from 12-16 feet. Eric Good is dominating the boards and Nathan Gragg is physically controlling the blocks. Drew Weatherly is playing with a lot of intensity. Opie Tipton is doing a little bit of everything. Even Dakota Bright, who hasn't seen much playing time lately, showed the ability to give a solid contribution in Tuesday's win.

Combine all that with a defense that has tightened up of late, and you've got a team that has a legitimate opportunity to do something special as the season winds down.

With one more regular season game left (Friday at Webb City), Nevada will look to continue playing fundamental team basketball into the postseason next week.

"The thing that you like," McNeley said, "The looks that we're taking are quality looks for kids that can make them. We're in a position where you're going to have to guard all five of us."

Tuesday the seniors each got honored during the game as well, with McNeley giving each a chance to be recognized by the fans. At the end of the game, the senior-laden Tigers were playing with four players while Bright stood near the sidelines, because Nevada didn't have enough underclassmen on the bench to sit all the seniors down.

"I wish I would have dressed one more junior," McNeley said. "You always hope that you have an opportunity to pull them out (during the game for a fan ovation)."

Tuesday was an exclamation point for the Nevada Tigers. They've made a commitment to leave everything on the court. Carthage, which has been playing really well of late (including a win at Webb City), can attest to that.