DUNLAP - Though Nic Moore is not huge in stature, the 5-foot-9 guard had plenty of room on his back for Warsaw's varsity boys basketball team Friday night.
The standout junior scored 17 of his game-high 26 points in the second half, including 15 in the third quarter, as the Tigers remained unbeaten and alone in first place in the Northern Lakes Conference with a 54-48 win at Concord."That's why he's Nic Moore," said Warsaw coach Doug Ogle, whose team improved to 10-2 overall and 4-0 in the NLC. "He had a really good week of practice. I'm not surprised he played like this. His leadership just continues to get better every day."
With the loss, Concord fell to 10-3 overall and 1-3 in the NLC.
Plymouth is 3-1 in conference action, while Elkhart Memorial is 2-1, Goshen and Wawasee are 2-2, NorthWood is 1-3 and Northridge is 0-3.
Elkhart Memorial and Northridge square off in conference action tonight.
"He's just so good at every thing he does," Concord coach Steve Austin said of Moore. "You have to hope he has a bad game."
That didn't happen, as Moore was 9 of 14 from the field overall, 4 of 6 from three-point range, and 4 of 5 from the free throw line. He dished out four assists and had three rebounds and two steals before fouling out late in the game.
With the two teams knotted at 22 after two quarters of play, a bucket by sophomore Jordyn Coon gave Warsaw a two-point lead.
And that's where Moore took over, as he scored the Tigers' next 15 points, pushing them to a 39-29 lead going into the fourth quarter.
With Concord's student section chanting the names of Michael Moore and Kyle Moore, his older brothers who left Warsaw and played at and graduated from Concord, Nic Moore became the man of the hour against the Minutemen.
"I was trying to work the ball around and get everyone involved, but then I hit a couple shots and I was feeling it," said Moore, who now needs just six points to become the 11th player in Warsaw boys history to score 1,000 career points. "They were chanting my brothers' names, saying they were better, and I just wanted to shut them up. This is a big win for us, we're undefeated in the conference. We're in first place."
Senior Justin Clemens added nine points for Warsaw, while Coon chipped in with six and senior Zack Linky and sophomore Lucas Grose scored five points each.
Senior Andy Conrad rounded out the Tigers' scoring with three points.
While Moore was able to silence Concord's crowd for a while, the Minutemen battled their way back into the game in the fourth quarter, getting within five points twice.
"I thought we did a good job getting control of the game," said Ogle. "But once we got control, we lost our poise and let them back in it."
Concord, which trailed by as much as 12 in the fourth quarter, had plenty of opportunities late in the game, as the Tigers struggled from the free throw line.
Warsaw was just 11 of 22 from the charity stripe, including 7 of 16 in the second half. But when the Minutmen would rebound a miss by the Tigers, they failed to convert it into points of their own.
"I thought we had opportunities," said Austin. "This was one of the worst games we've played. We played hard. We're talented, and if we could just put together the little things, we might be 13-0. We had plenty of opportunities, we just didn't get shots to fall."
Concord was able to stay close in the first half with some clutch three-point shooting, but in the second half, the Minutemen were 1 of 13 beyond the arc.
Concord finished the game 16 of 45 (36 percent) from the field overall, 5 of 25 from three-point range, and 11 of 13 from the charity stripe.
Senior Doug Acker, who hit three treys in the first quarter, and freshman Franko House led Concord with 13 points each. Junior Anthony Yoder and senior Larone Smith added nine and eight points, respectively.
Freshman DuWhan Alford rounded out Concord's scoring attack with five points.
Warsaw is in action again Friday at NLC foe NorthWood, while travels to conference rival Wawasee Friday.
WARSAW 54, CONCORD 48
W 14 8 17 15 - 54
C 9 13 7 19 - 48
Warsaw - Andy Conrad 1-5 1-4 3, Justin Clemens 4-4 1-2 9, Brock Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Nic Moore 9-14 4-5 26, Jordyn Coon 2-3 2-2 6, Zack Linky 1-2 2-4 5, Lucas Grose 2-6 1-5 5, Jalen Roscoe 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-35 11-22 54.
