Disastrous fourth quarter spells defeat for Mustangs

The Mustangs failed to score in the last seven and a half minutes as the Jets reeled off the game's final 21 points. SM finished last in the MAC at 2-14.

Jordan Banks scored 16 points for the Jets. Wes McCurry, Patrick Davis and Troy Young all had 14.

Jeff Davis led the Mustangs with 13 points.

"They went to a half court trap, and we just passed the ball and stood around," Coach Scott Hartbarger said. "We had no movement whatsoever."

SM missed all 12 of its field goal tries in the fourth period.

The Mustangs led 54-51 on a Justin Roper free throw with 7:33 left in the game but didn't score again.

Enka's finishing surge started less than a minute later after an intentional foul against SM and a double technical on both teams. Hartbarger said he didn't think that incident had anything to do with how the game ended.

"Their half court trap just baffled us," he said.

Banks gave his team the lead for good, 56-54, with 5:45 on the clock. He scored eight in the final period as the Jets steadily pulled away.

Enka led 51-44 on a Davis basket with 3:17 remaining in the third stanza.

The Mustangs scored the period's final nine points, including treys by Jared Day and Landon Farley. A Jake Day basket with 28 seconds on the clock put them ahead 53-51.

Five points from McCurry helped the Jets break an 8-8 tie and take a 15-8 advantage with 2:49 left in the first period.

The Mustangs cut the gap to 17-15 at the quarter break after Roper's fast break layup in the closing seconds.

A Roper basket put SM on top for the first time, 19-17, with 7:47 to play in the half.

Brandon West's four-point play highlighted a 10-2 spurt as Enka went up 34-26 with 3:25 on the clock.

Davis responded with a four-point play of his own helping cut the deficit to 40-38 at intermission. Davis made a trio of three-pointers and four foul shots.

Roper finished with nine points, Farley and Patrick McChesney followed with seven each, Jared Day and Josh Day both netted six, Jake Day scored four and Sam Hammer had two.

The Mustang JVs rolled to a 56-29 victory to finish their season 13-4. SM jumped to a 22-2 first quarter lead and was up 35-14 at halftime and 48-27 through three periods.

Ollin Dunford scored 15 points.

"It was a good win to end the season on," Coach Jimmy Roper said. "We had a great first quarter and never let them back in the game."

He said he was especially proud of the sophomores ­ Dunford, William Bond, Nathan Medlin, Joseph Stapleton and Jacob Monteith. They were 30-8 in two seasons on the JVs.

Back to Sports: 02/21/02.