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On Friday night, the Gibson Southern Titans rolled into the North Posey parking lot knowing they were the underdogs in the last regular season game against their PAC rival. The Titans were looking to go .500 in the PAC at 4-4 and finish off their regular season at 8-14. In a thrilling, high-scoring matchup for the Titans, they raided the Viking fieldhouse, winning 63-54.

“It was a great way to end the regular season,” Titan head coach Kyle Runyan said. “I’m so happy that the team could pull out a win like this. It really shows how much work they have put in this season.”

The Titans started off the first quarter strong, taking a 10-5 lead. Gibson Southern continued to hold its lead over the Vikings in the second quarter, putting on a scoring clinic. They were up by 10 points going into halftime, holding the usually strong scoring North Posey to just 21 points.

“We did a great job on limiting their scoring,” senior Mitchell Spindler said. “Brayden did a heck of a job guarding Ricketts, and we were getting great open shots that we were knocking down.”

The Titans slowed their scoring slightly in the third, looking to keep control of the ball for more possessions. They continued to limit touches for North Posey’s senior Josiah Ricketts, who scored his 2,000th career point in this contest. Despite Ricketts’ milestone, the Titans maintained their lead, 45-33, heading into the fourth quarter.

The Vikings, down 12, looked to close any gap they could. There was just not enough time as they would have to foul in the remaining minutes. Sophomore Brayden Malone and Spindler hit a combined 16 free throws on the game with most coming in the fourth. This helped keep the Titans’ lead out of reach. Gibson Southern came out on top, winning by 9 points.

“I think we played this game very well,” senior Adam May said. “We always knew we had it in us; we just finally showed it. We also helped slow their scoring which gave us a huge opportunity.”

The Titans were led by Spindler who had 24 points and 10 rebounds on the night. Senior Aidan Neel had 14 points, including four three-pointers, followed by Malone with 12 points.

The Vikings were led by Ricketts with 18 points.

The Titans finished the regular season at 8-14. They take on Evansville Bosse in the first round of Sectional 32 at Boonville on Tuesday night. They are looking to upset the Bulldogs, who are coming off a win against Reitz to win the SIAC.

“It will be a very tough matchup,” Runyan said. “They have a lot of size in Powell and have a lot of athleticism we just don’t have. We are gonna have to play our style of ball to have an opportunity to get a win.”