Box Score Fort Scott, KS -- The Neosho County men's basketball program (2-1) orchestrated a tenacious come from behind performance in Thursday night's game at the Gladbach Classic in Fort Scott by overcoming a 15 point first-half deficit before ultimately faltering in the last minute of the game and losing 63-67 to the #5 NJCAA D2 Highland Scotties.
 
"It was just one of those nights," Panther head coach Jeremy Coombs said. "We came out flat and didn't shoot the ball worth a darn, but that's on me to get these guys ready to play so I will take the blame on this one."
 
The Panthers saw themselves behind early and didn't even score until 9 minutes into the ball game. In the first half the Panthers shot an ugly 20% from deep only connecting on 3 of 15 but shot an even uglier 22% from the field only making 6 of 27 baskets. 
 
Somehow the Panthers would only find themselves down 4 points at the midway point.  As they turned up the pressure defensively forcing the Scotties into several turnovers and only allowed Highlands high powered offense to score 29 points in the first half.
 
"I know we came out flat, but our defense really picked up and got us back in the ball game." Coombs said. "I thought we finally woke up and defended and rebounded like we are expected."
 
The Panthers would come out of the locker room and dominate the next 8 minutes as they not only took back the lead but went up 9 with just 12 minutes left to play. The Scotties wouldn't go away as they continued to claw away at the Panthers lead. In the last 2 min of the game the Scotties would tie the ballgame at 58 points apiece.  In the last to minutes the Scotties would connect on a three ball by Rashon Johnson, while the Panthers missed two contested layups. Also, in the mix of things Jae-Min Yang was handed a technical foul for flopping giving the Scotties a three-point lead. The Panthers would attempt to tie the game but came up short and the Scotties would knock down free throws to close out the game.
 
"First road test and first bit of adversity this team has seen this year and I thought we responded well." Coombs said. "Some teams would have folded up after a start like that and after shooting so poorly, but our guys fought back and made it a game."
 
The Panthers will be back in action tomorrow evening as they face off with the host team the Fort Scott Greyhounds. Tip is set for 5:00 pm.
 
Gladbach Classic Schedule – Fort Scott, KS
November 8th
1:00pm - Northwest Tech JV vs. Highland Community College
5:00pm - Fort Scott Community College vs. Neosho County Community College
 
For more information, go to www.goneosho.com or follow @GoNeoshoHoops or GoNeosho on Twitter for updates throughout the year.