By BO ALLEGRUCCI
The Salina Journal
With center Marquis Whitt in early foul trouble and free throws once again not falling, the Brown Mackie Lions had to dig themselves out of a first half-hole to beat Highland 65-59 Friday at Wiley Banes Gymasium.
Whitt picked up two fouls in the game's first five minutes and never did find his flow in the first half, and the Lions missed 10 of their first 12 free throws as Highland built an 11-point lead in the early going. Brown Mackie looked a little stale at both ends of the court against a Scottie lineup that started four guards and 7-foot-1 Dallas native Brian Mokeski.
"Highland wanted to slow us down this time, and to their credit they did," said Brown Mackie coach Francis Flax, whose Lions won 89-80 at Highland on Nov. 6. "We played right into their hands by missing so many easy shots and so many free throws early. More than Marquis' fouls, it was the free-throw shooting that hurt us."
Highland stacked up a 15-6 lead with 3-pointers from Tyler Nordman, Jewel Carter DeWayne Wright, but BMC got back-to-back buckets from Robbie Lewis and a 3 from Earnest Noel that cut the lead to 15-13 with 11:19 left in the first half.
That was as close as the Lions would get in the first half despite a dozen Highland turnovers. The Scotties widened the gap to 24-13 with a 9-0 run, but Brown Mackie closed the first half with a 7-2 burst and trailed by just four at the intermission.
"I liked that we were only down four at the half," Flax said. "We didn't play well in the first half, but we made a charge right before the break that probably helped set us up for the second half."
The Lions took their first lead of the night just after halftime by correcting the two things that weren't right in the first half: free-throws and Whitt. Whitt scored on consecutive trips and the BMC hit six of its first seven free throws to start the second half with a 13-3 blitz.
"Marquis asserted himself in the second half and made a big difference in the game," Flax said of his 6-10 center, who scored seven of his nine points and grabbed six of his eight rebounds in the second half (he also blocked two shots). "He was aggressive with the ball in his hands on offense, and he really crashed the boards on both ends in the second half."
Bryson Flax then hit a 3 from each wing that put Brown Mackie up 45-38 with 10:38 to play, and after four straight Jacob Jordan points, Noel hit a jumper before Kenon Lamb stole the inbound pass and scored to give the Lions their largest lead at 57-48.
Brown Mackie held Highland at arm's length until the final half-minute when reserve forward Dave Calloway drained a 3-ball from the left corner that pulled the Scotties as close as 62-59 with 23.2 seconds on the clock.
After Flax missed a pair of free throws, Carter squeezed off a 3-pointer from the left wing that would've tied the game in the final seconds, but the ball bounced off the back rim and out of bounds. The Scotties were whistled for a foul near midcourt on the ensuing inbounds play and the Highland bench drew a technical for arguing the call with 1.2 seconds to go.
BMC missed four of its final eight free throws, but Lamb hit three of his final four from the line to close things out.
"This definitely wasn't our best game, but we had enough in us to get it done in the second half," Flax said. "Our post players were horrific in the first half, but they got it going and we were able to extend our defense on the perimeter after halftime. That cut off their (Highland's) penetration and easy passes."
Highland outshot Brown Mackie from the floor, the free-throw line and the 3-point arc, but the Lions won the rebounding battle, 50-36.
Flax led all scorers with 13 points, while Noel and Lamb scored 11 apiece for BMC. Carter led the Scotties with 12 points.
Brown Mackie hosts Haskell today at 4 p.m.