CHANUTE, KS – Magic Reliford contirbuted in a big way offensively against the T-Birds of Cloud County. The sophomore guard scored 35 points and made 12-of-14 field goals, 7-of-8 3-point field goals, and 4-of-6 free throws to lead the Panther men's basketball team to an 84-70 rout of Cloud County Saturday afternoon in Panther Gymnasium.

The Panthers started off on fire from way beyond the arc in the first half and would ultimately bury the T-Birds by taking a 20-point halftime lead into the locker room at the midway point of the game Saturday afternoon.

Coach Jeremy Coombs on Saturday's game, "I thought the guys came out and defended very well. Scoring the ball isn't the issue with our team…we have several guys that can go get buckets, but we need to become a better defensive team and I thought we did that tonight."

The game was close the first ten minutes, but it was Magic Reliford who caught fire from downtown and nailed six straight treys giving the Panthers a large first half lead. The Panthers used a 12-2 run and an 18-4 run to end the first twenty minutes. The T-Birds would strike first in the second half scoring five points, but it would quickly go back to the "Magic show" as he would continue his lights out shooting.

Neosho finished the game (50.8 percent) 30-of-59 from the field, (39.1 percent) 9-of-23 from behind the arc and (75 percent) 15-of-20 from the free-throw line.

The victory gives the Panthers their third win in a row against the T-Birds in the past two years.

Next up:

The Panthers travel to Goodland, Kansas on Monday, March 8th, to take on the Northwest Tech Mavericks at 7:30 PM MST. The Panthers will then head to Great Bend, KS to make up a postponed game with Barton County on Tuesday afternoon at 3:00 PM. 

For more information, go to www.goneosho.com or follow @GoNeoshoHoops or GoNeosho on Twitter for updates throughout the year.

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