Second-half slump sinks Nevada Tigers

Nevada coach John McNeley was having none of it.

"That's no excuse," he said, when reminded that his team was playing its fourth game in five days. "We just didn't look like we had much of an idea about what we were doing out there."

The Tigers fell 38-33 to Neosho in a lackluster performance by both teams in a Southwest Conference game on Tuesday night.

Nevada, coming off two straight wins, appeared to be on the verge of No. 3 early in the contest.

The Tigers (7-15, 0-5) forged a 15-10 first-quarter lead, then took a 25-18 advantage into the locker room at the halftime intermission.

Alex Hardin led the first-half offensive effort with 12 points, while Bryan Campbell chipped in with nine.

The second half, however, was an entirely different story.

The Tigers, stone cold from the field, totaled eight points in the half, only two in the third quarter.

Said McNeley, "We lacked aggressiveness in the second half. I felt we had it in the first half."

But Neosho (5-17, 3-3) wasn't much better. A six-point third period and they were still down by three, 27-24, entering the fourth.

Eric Atkinson's acrobatic, off-balance putback of a blocked shot extended the Tigers' lead to 29-24 and aroused the fans with hope that this was the impetus Nevada needed.

But, it wasn't to be.

Neosho, by default as much as anything else, finally pulled into a 29-29 tie in the middle of an 11-0 run with four minutes to go.

When the run ended, on Campbell's jumper, the score stood at 35-31 in favor of the Wildcats. Three Neosho free throws in the closing seconds iced the victory.

"This was one of those nights where you don't question the effort and you don't question the desire," said McNeley, of his team which never quits, "you just wish you would have played better.

"The bottom line is, you give up 38 points and you don't win the ballgame. That's awful frustrating."

Hardin went scoreless in the second half, but led the Tigers with 12. Campbell finished with 11.

No Wildcat reached double figures. Trey Neidert paced Neosho with nine.

Nevada, still searching for its first conference win, takes on McDonald County on Friday at Anderson, Mo.

JV game

The Nevada boys junior varsity lost a 60-57 nailbiter to Neosho.

The Tigers, trailing 58-57 with 9.7 seconds left, couldn't get a shot to fall, then were forced to foul. Neosho sank two free throws to go up 60-57 before a last-second Nevada 3-point attempt fell harmlessly away.

Jim Fay was the Tigers' scoring leader with 16, while Logan Moore added 10. Nathan Gragg led Nevada in the rebound and steal categories, with 11 and five, respectively.