CHANUTE - Neosho County men's basketball team returned home Wednesday evening looking to rebound from their tough overtime loss to the Pratt Beavers last week and the Panthers did not disappoint.  The Panthers would hold off the Busters winning 72 to 67.
 
In the first half, the Busters would jump out to an 11 to 2 run before the Panthers would make a 14-0 run. Torey Cargo knocked down a deep three while Jonathan Breeland Jr.. took his SHO to the basket scoring at will. The Panthers would jump out to a 19-11 lead at the media timeout. But it was the Panthers defense that would ultimately help the Panthers to a 30 to 23 halftime lead.
 
"We finally showed that we can defend the right way." Coach Jeremy Coombs said. "Defense is the key to this team and being able to win games."
 
The second half started much like the first half ended as Neosho would continue getting stops and the offense started clicking with Chol Adup, Jae-Min Yang and Tory Cargo knocked down a flurry of three balls to tack on a 12 to 0 run. The Panthers would take their largest lead 58-40 just before the Media timeout.
 
"They were scrappy, and we knew they would make a run," said Coombs of the Busters. "We told the guys we have won the first 30 minutes but there's still 10 minutes to play and we needed to want it more than them."
 
As coach Coombs expected the Busters wouldn't go down without a fight. Two of the Buster bench players Mason Osborne and Derrick Bryant would combine for five late threes that would ultimately make the game interesting. But the Panthers stood tall and finished the Busters off 72 to 67.
 
"I would have loved to win that game comfortably but I feel having to grid out the win only made us better," Coombs said. "It put our young guys in a situation that we've been in before but came out on the other end and the fact that we hung on to win was way better for us moving forward."
 
Panthers we led by Jonathan Breeland Jr. with 21 points, Jae-Min Yang added 18 and 11 rebounds, Chol Adup chipped in 11 points while Torey Cargo scored 10 points. The Panthers now 7 and 1 at home will host Seward County the Jayhawks top defensive team only allowing 67.8 points per game. Tip is set for 7:30 pm here on the Panther Gymnasium.
 
For more information, go to www.goneosho.com or follow @GoNeoshoHoops or GoNeosho on Twitter for updates throughout the year.