Panthers hit the road Wednesday for their final game before Christmas break and lose a heart breaker to RV Barton County.
Early in the first half, the Panthers would fall behind by 9 points but that wouldn't last as the Panthers would fight back to cut the lead to 27-26 with just 5 min to play in the first half of play. The remainder of the half would be a back and forth battle but the Panthers would find themselves down 4 points (36-32) going into halftime.
"I thought we came out flat but did a nice job of battling back." said Head Coach
Jeremy Coombs, "We did a nice job moving the ball offensively and I was also happy with our defense."
The Panther defense held the #2 scoring team in the Jayhawk in check most of the night, only allowing 36 first-half points and 47 second-half points holding the Cougars under their season average of 97.3 points per game.
The start of the second half would begin where the first left off with Barton and Neosho trading baskets for the first twelve minutes. But the Panthers would allow the Cougars to make a big run over the next four min and would find themselves down 58 to 69 with just six and a half minutes to play.
"I thought that four-minute stretch really hurt us," Coombs said, "We made several defensive mistakes and took some bad shots that ended up in easy buckets for them (Barton)."
But Neosho wasn't done as the panthers would pull within 4 after an old fashioned three-point play by
Jonathan Breeland Jr. Barton would eventually put the Panthers away as they knocked down 6 of 7 free throws in the final minute of the game.
Jonathan Breeland Jr. led the Panthers in scoring with 22 points shooting 7 for 11 from the field, 1 for 1 from deep and 7-7 from the free-throw line.Â
James Taylor added fourteen points and
Jae-Min Yang chipped in 12 points going 6 for 7 from the field.
Panthers fall to 2-2 in Conference play. The Panthers will now have 14 days off for Christmas break and will return to conference play on January 4th as they will travel to Pratt Community College for a 4:00 pm tip.
For more information, go to www.goneosho.com or follow @GoNeoshoHoops or GoNeosho on Twitter for updates throughout the year.
