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Mustangs pull away from Maroon Devils
Smoky Mountain took control in the fourth quarter for a 62-52 non-conference basketball victory Saturday at Swain.
John Salzano scored 19 points, and Dustin Nicholson had 18 points along with 10 rebounds. Tyson Crawford added 10 points.
Jason Boston and Cory Sutton both had 11 points for the Maroon Devils.
"Anytime you beat Swain, it's a big win," Coach Scott Hartbarger said. "We started out a little sluggish but played much better in the second half."
The Mustangs (6-12) had the fourth period's first eight points, including four by Salzano, for a 47-38 lead on Nicholson's layup at the 4:41 mark.
Another Nicholson basket made it 53-43 with 2:24 on the clock.
Swain cut the gap to 56-52 on Van Downs' follow shot with 48 seconds to play.
Salzano hit a pair of free throws on SM's next two possessions and added a layup in the closing seconds.
The first quarter produced four lead changes and three ties and ended with the Mustangs in front 13-10.
Swain led the remainder of the half after Boston put his team up 16-15 at the 6:32 mark. The lead was 23-19 on Sutton's layup with 2:04 remaining, and the Devils went to the dressing room in front 25-23.
Swain's biggest lead was 32-27 on Nic Zimmerman's layup with 5:03 to play in the third stanza.
The Mustangs fought back to take a 37-36 edge on two Crawford foul shots with two minutes to go in the period, which ended with SM on top 39-38.
Salzano connected on six field goals and seven free throws. Nicholson scored all his points from the floor. Crawford made four field goals and two foul shots.
Cory Siler added six points, Matt Gibson netted four, Deron Fowler scored three and Bryan Panther had two.
Hartbarger singled out Gibson and Martin Davis for their defense on Sutton in the fourth quarter. He also noted that Salzano hit some key free throws.
The Mustang JVs came from behind to win 48-44 upping their mark to 8-10. Swain led at quarter breaks by scores of 9-6, 23-15 and 36-28.
SM's Dayne Bowers scored 10 points.
"We got down, but we went to a small, quick lineup," Hartbarger said. "We pressed them all over the floor."
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