A swarming Hopkinsville defense had visiting McCracken County on its heels throughout the first half of Tuesday’s matchup, but the Mustangs unlocked the Tigers after the break to earn a hard-fought 57-51 victory.
The win is McCracken’s fourth in the last five and second straight against the Tigers. The Mustangs bounced back from their first loss of the season to hand Hopkinsville its first setback.
The Tigers held McCracken to only four points over the first six and a half minutes of the game, and led by six after a three-point play by Antonio Williams. Jackson Klope scored five of his seven first-quarter points over the last 2:16 to trim the Hoptown lead to 13-9.
Hopkinsville continued to clamp down defensively and allowed McCracken only two baskets for over five minutes. With Williams on the bench with two fouls, the Tigers built the lead to 12 points with 2:37 left in the half after a three-pointer by DeShaun Garland and a pair of free throws for Artavius Moses.
After two of the Mustangs’ top-five scorers, Connor Miller and Dylan Jackson, combined for only two points in the first half, the duo got it going after the break. Jackson scored seven, and Miller poured in 11, including a three at the third-quarter buzzer to cap a 14-point turnaround for a 39-34 McCracken advantage.
Trailing by seven in the fourth, the Tigers went to a full-court press that helped them tie the game at 43-43 after a Williams’ pull-up jumper with 4:42 to play. But Miller answered with six-straight points for the Mustangs and forced a Hoptown timeout after a bucket on the baseline. Hopkinsville got as close as three on Williams’ dunk with just over thirty seconds left, but McCracken hit four of six free throws the rest of the way to hold on for the win.
Hopkinsville will look to return to winning ways on Thursday when Caldwell County visits Tiger Gym. The Orange and Black Tigers have won the last 19 in the series dating back to 2008.
McCracken 9 7 23 18 — 57
Hopkinsville 13 12 9 17 — 51
McCracken (2-1) — Miller 19, Jackson 15, Klope 13, Fulcher 6, Parish 2, Grogan 1
Hopkinsville (2-1) — Williams 17, Dudley 15, Ramey 7, Radford 4, Garland 3, Leavell 3, Moses 2
