Mustangs fall to Murphy despite late opportunities

Daniel Kent poured in 29 points for Murphy. Joey Allen added 11.

Justin Roper and Jason Bennett both scored 12 points for the Mustangs (9-12), and Jared Day had 11.

"We just blew our opportunities," Coach Scott Hartbarger said. "We had chances to win the game. It's frustrating for our kids to continue to work so hard in practice, and they can't transfer that to the games."

SM led 39-29 when Roper hit a three-pointer to open the second half.

The Bulldogs closed the period with a 12-2 run, including six by Kent, to take a 49-48 edge.

Murphy led 53-48 when Nathan Reeves scored the first four points of the fourth quarter.

Two baskets by Michael Ritchie helped the Mustangs go back on top 54-53 at the 5:44 mark. His foul shot with 3:57 on the clock tied it 57-57.

Consecutive baskets by Allen gave the Bulldogs the lead for good, 61-57, with 2:24 left.

Roper brought SM within 63-61 at the 1:30 mark, and neither team scored again.

The Mustangs squandered numerous opportunities down the stretch with turnovers and missed free throws.

SM led 8-5 after back-to-back baskets by Bennett with 2:45 to go in the first quarter.

Kent countered with consecutive buckets giving the Bulldogs a 9-8 edge with 2:06 on the clock, and they led 11-10 at the quarter break.

Bennett had four points in a 10-2 spurt for a 25-17 lead with 4:28 remaining in the half. The margin reached 36-24 on Lance Gabbard's follow shot with 46 seconds to play.

The lead was 36-29 at intermission.

A key factor in the game was Murphy pulling down 15 offensive rebounds.

Bennett scored all his points from the floor. Two of Roper's five field goals were three-pointers. Three of Day's field goals were treys.

Gabbard finished with eight points, Ritchie followed with seven, Luke Bell netted six, Allen Sutton scored three and Kyle Clayton had two.

The Mustang JVs are 12-4 after a 51-35 victory. Patrick McChesney scored 19 points, and Michael Ayers had 11.

"We played real well and with a lot of energy," Coach Jimmy Roper said. "We had a good game from a lot of kids off the bench."

He said Ollin Dunford and Paul Van Der Ven played well.

SM led at quarter breaks by scores of 11-7, 25-15 and 37-24.

Back to Sports: 02/08/01.