After taking a six-point lead into halftime, the Warsaw Tigers buckled down in the third and fourth quarters against Gary Wallace to get an 84-69 win Saturday.

"We played poorly in the last 55 seconds of the second quarter," said Warsaw boys basketball coach Al Rhodes. "We had a 10-point lead, and then fouls let them (Wallace) cut that to six."

The first quarter was a dogfight that saw four ties but no lead changes.

Warsaw made the first basket of the game as Chris Clay put the Tigers up 2-0, but Wallace matched the Warsaw squad basket for basket until the 3:44 mark.

At the 3:44 point, Warsaw took its biggest lead of the quarter, 11-6, when an assist from Josh Buck led to a basket by Greg Clay.

But Wallace fought back, thanks to Jovan Joiner. Joiner hit two baskets and was fouled on the second for five points in a span of 40 seconds to tie the score at 11.

The Tigers scored the last four points of the quarter to take a 15-11 lead into the second frame.

Wallace cut Warsaw's lead to one at the 7:40 mark when Brandon Richardson hit a basket and the ensuing free throw to make the score 15-14.

However, that was as close as the Hornets got. The Tigers went on an 11-3 run and took a 26-17 advantage with 3:56 left in the quarter.

By the end of the quarter, Warsaw's lead dwindled to 34-28.

Wallace got fired up at the halftime break. Richardson and Joiner scored the first two baskets of the third frame to cut the Tiger lead to two, 34-32.

With Wallace knocking at the door, 36-34, at the 6:11 mark, Warsaw kicked into gear. The Tigers scored eight straight points to stretch their lead to 10, 44-34.

A basket by Trent Martin at the end of the third frame gave Warsaw its biggest lead of the game, 55-44.

"We had a strong third quarter," said Rhodes, "and continued through the rest of the game."

That 11-point deficit paired with almost perfect shooting by Warsaw was too much for Wallace to overcome in the fourth quarter.

The Tigers were 10-of-12 shooting from the field and 8-of-12 shooting from the charity stripe for 29 points. The Tigers held Wallace to 6-of-15 shooting and 24 points in the quarter to get the 84-69 win.

Warsaw had four players in double figures. Josh Buck led the Tigers with 18 points, while Greg Clay added 16 points. Chris Clay added 11 points, and Brian Johnson had 10. Johnson also had 10 rebounds for a double-double in his first varsity start.

"We had a good, balanced game today," said Rhodes. "Jerad Shaw had nine rebounds. Brian Johnson had 10 points and 10 rebounds in his first start and that's impressive at the wing position. He gave a tremendous effort."

Warsaw is 2-2, while Wallace falls to 1-6. The Tigers travel to county rival Wawasee for a Northern Lakes Conference game Friday in Syracuse.

WARSAW 84, G. WALLACE 69

Gary Wallace 11 17 16 25 - 69

Warsaw 15 19 21 29 - 84

Gary Wallace FG FT R S Pts.

Richardson (G) 5-13 3-9 4 0 18

Joiner (C) 7-8 3-3 6 1 15

Robinson (F) 2-7 0-0 2 0 4

Sago (G) 1-3 1-2 0 0 3

Thomas (F) 0-2 0-0 3 1 0

Rhodes 4-4 0-0 1 0 10

Dunham 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Gholson 3-7 4-6 4 2 12

Williams 2-4 1-1 9 2 5

Spencer 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Wesby 1-5 2-2 0 0 2

Powell 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Totals 24-49 14-23 30 6 69

Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.

Buck (F) 5-16 8-11 6 1 18

G. Clay (F) 4-12 6-7 4 1 16

C. Clay (G) 4-4 5-6 1 0 11

Johnson (G) 5-7 0-0 10 2 10

Seiss (G) 3-5 2-7 2 1 8

Martin 3-3 2-2 0 0 9

Fawley 0-0 2-2 1 0 2

Foster 0-0 1-2 1 0 1

Shaw 1-2 3-5 9 1 5

Fussle 1-1 0-0 0 0 2

DeGeeter 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Knepper 1-1 0-0 0 0 2

Totals 27-51 29-42 33 6 84

Three-point goals -ÊWallace 4-12 (Rhodes 2-2, Richardson 0-5, Robinson 0-1, Gholson 2-4), Warsaw 1-4 (Martin 1-1, G. Clay 0-3). Fouls -ÊWallace 31, Warsaw 15. Fouled out - Joiner, Richardson. Turnovers -ÊWallace 17, Warsaw 13.

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