The Hopkinsville boys’ basketball team took a lead into the final minute of Saturday afternoon’s game with hosts Lincoln County at the Patriot Classic, but a late run pushed the Patriots to a 43-41 comeback win over the Tigers. Lincoln County snaps a two-game slide to improve to 10-6, while Hoptown drops its fifth in a row to slip to 8-8 overall.
The Tigers led by 1 after the first quarter, before Jacarius Burks got hot with 8 points in the second quarter to help Hoptown to a 25-23 lead at the halftime break.
Neither team broke double figures in the third quarter, with Hopkinsville maintaining the 2-point advantage behind 6 points from James Nicholas.
Just like the third quarter, the Tigers only managed 8 points over the final 8:00, but they still held a 41-35 lead with a minute to play. However, the Patriots closed on an 8-0 run, capped by a bucket from Blake Smith with :1.8 on the clock, to pull out a 2-point win.
Smith’s 16 led all scorers, followed by Frye with 11 for the Patriots.
Burks was the only Tiger in double figures with 11, followed by Nicholas with 9 and Reece Jesse with 6.
Hopkinsville will be back in action on Tuesday when they host the 8-3 Warren Central Dragons at Tiger Gym.
