Visiting Bowling Green scored the first seven points of the game at Hopkinsville on Friday night and led by as many as 34 points to hand the Tigers a 66-46 defeat.
Hoptown was coming off a 100-point outing in a victory over Caldwell County, but baskets were hard to come by in the first quarter on Friday. The last of the Tigers’ nine points came on an Antonio Williams shot in the paint, and they didn’t score over the final 2:45 of the frame.
MJ Wardlow led the Purples with eight points, and Deuce Bailey added five to build a 16-point lead.
Bowling Green stretched the lead to 21 points after a hook shot by Mason Ritter and forced a Tiger timeout with just over four minutes left in the half. A three-pointer for KeiMarion Smith cut the margin back to 16 at 37-21, but the Purples answered with a three by Braylon Banks and scored the final seven points of the half to lead by 23 at the break.
Bowling Green doubled up Hoptown 10-5 in the third before the Tigers began to cut into the deficit in the final quarter. Smith and Williams each scored 10 over the final eight minutes to make things more respectable. Williams led the Tigers with 16 points and was joined in double figures by Smith with 13 and Bubba Leavell with 11.
For the Purples, Wardlow led all scorers with 23, and Ritter finished with 15.
Hopkinsville hits the road on Saturday looking to bounce back against Ohio County at the Farmer’s Bank & Trust Tip-Off Classic at Muhlenberg County.
Bowling Green 25 19 10 12 — 66
Hopkinsville 9 12 5 20 — 46
Bowling Green (4-0) — M. Wardlow 23, Ritter 15, Banks 9, Bailey 5, D. Starks 3, Carpenter 2, Idlett 2, Lightning 2, E. Starks 2, J. Wardlow 2, Griffin 1
Hopkinsville (1-2) — Williams 16, Smith 13, Leavell 11, Gavin 5, Manning 1
