The Gibson Southern Titans lost 57-55 to the Tecumseh Braves after Delonte West sank two free throws in the final seconds, dropping three and a half games behind the Pistons for the best record in the Eastern Conference.
The Gibson Southern Titans faced the (9-10) Tecumseh Braves. The Titans were looking to go over .500 in the conference and a win would put them at 3-2.
The first quarter ended 12-15, with the Titans down 3 points. Sophomore Brayden Malone and Senior Mitchell Spindler both started out hot, scoring 5 each.
The Titans would then fight through the second quarter, leading by some excellent defense only allowing the Braves to score 4 points in the quarter. Sophomore Drew Foster scored 5, putting the Titans in a good position heading into halftime. Gibson Southern’s boys were up 22-19 at the half.
To start the third quarter, both teams had players who got hot. For the Braves, their scoring would come from Tanner Toopes. After only scoring 3 points in the first half, he scored 8 in the third quarter alone. For the Titans, it would be sophomore Carson Brindle with 7 and Spindler with 6. The Titans ended the 3rd with a small lead of 41-37.
The fourth quarter was close once again and the Braves were led by Tanner Toopes, who scored two consecutive three pointers. The Titans were held to a much more modest 7 points in this quarter. The score was tied with 22 seconds left, and the Titans couldn’t get off a good shot, thus putting the game into overtime with a score of 48-48.
The Braves won the tip off and immediately hit a three, which would be familiar in overtime as they would go to hit two more. This ended up putting the Titans down two again for the last play, and once again the Titans couldn’t convert.
“I was proud of our effort in that game, especially on defense, we need to continue putting in that effort and if we do we will keep having close games like this one,” head coach Kyle Runyan said.
Brindle, Spindler, and Foster were the leading scores for the Titans with 15, 18, and 12. The Braves were led by Toopes, Dustin Dupont, and Gage Green with 17, 11, and 10.
“They (Braves) weren’t playing the way they normally play. We forced them to take shots they didn’t want to take and that is a credit to our effort in that game,” assistant coach Blackard said.
Ultimately, the Titans couldn’t defeat the Braves.
“We played well but our turnovers and not finishing around the bucket really hurt us in the second half,” junior Jacob Spindler said. “If we could’ve cleaned up those small things, we would’ve pulled away with the win.”
The Braves advance to a .500 record on the season of 10-10 snapping the Titans 3-game win streak. The Titans are now 6-12 on the season and 2-3 in their conference.