Mules 70, Sikeston 65
The race for the SEMO Conference title just got interesting.
Poplar Bluff rallied from a 34-22 halftime deficit Friday night to beat Sikeston, 70-65, in a battle of the last two unbeaten teams in SEMO play.
Poplar Bluff senior Riley Raulston scored 21 of his game-high 25 points in the second half, hitting three straight 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter. Freshman guard Kendrick McCain, who had scored five points in seven varsity games this season, scored eight points on 2-of-3 shooting from 3-point range.
Michael Porter led Sikeston with 17 points. Eli Jackson had 14 points and seven rebounds and Niquavious Dixon added 13 points. Juqualin Wiggins had six points and nine assists for the Bulldogs (14-3, 3-1 SEMO).
The Mules (13-7, 4-0) used a 17-3 run to open the second half, taking the lead on Chis Kilgore's putback with 3:37 left in the third. Jackson quickly answered for Sikeston, which broke a 41-41 tie with Will Holifield's 3-pointer.
The Bulldogs took a 48-45 lead into the fourth but turned the ball over on the opening possession. The teams then traded scores for the next 4 minutes, during which McCain hit a 3 and Raulston hit a trio of 3s, the final one giving the Mules a 61-54 lead with 4:11 to go.
Porter answered with a 3 from straightaway, then got a steal and dunk to cut Poplar Bluff's lead to 61-59.
Following a pair of free throws by Greg Coble, the Poplar Bluff junior pulled down a missed shot and quickly pushed the ball up the floor. Coble hit Raulston with a pass for a fastbreak layin for a six-point lead and 3:06 to go.
Porter's free throws later pulled Sikeston closer and a steal by Cal Lane led to Jackson's bucket got the Bulldogs to within 65-63 with 1:58 left.
Lane again got another steal but Sikeston came away empty and Coble scored with 53 seconds left off a pass from Kilgore. Jackson's back door layin off a Holifield pass cut Poplar Bluff's lead to three and Raulston missed a one-and-one opportunity with 30 seconds left.
Lane missed a jumper and Jay Raulston pulled down the rebound, getting fouled and hitting two free throws with 11.4 seconds left. Following a missed 3 by Sikeston, Jay Raulston sank another free throw to set the final score and a wild celebration.
Poplar Bluff still has conference road games at New Madrid County Central, which has already beaten the Mules twice this season, and at Charleston. The Mules travel to NMCC on Thursday then host Notre Dame a day later.
Homcoming night didn't start well for the Mules as Sikeston scored the first 11 points and led 15-1 midway through the opening quarter. Eight of those points came off Poplar Bluff turnovers against Sikeston's press. The Mules didn't hit their first field goal until 3:54 mark of the first quarter, missing their first four shots, before scoring eight straight points. Riley Raulston started the rally with a steal leading to Jake White's 3-pointer. A pair of steals by Jay Raulston also led to buckets but the Mules still trailed 17-10 heading into the second quarter.
Todd Bullington set up Jay Raulston's dunk and his offensive rebound led to Kilgore's bucket to pull the Mules to within 19-14. Sikeston then went on a 11-4 run to push the lead back to double digits. The run was highlighted by Wiggins' half-court lob to Lane for a dunk and a 30-18 lead with 2:43 left in the half.
Kilgore hit a shot falling back in the closing seconds of the half to pull the Mules to within 34-22.
Jay Raulston had 12 points, 10 rebounds, two steals, two blocks and two assists for the Mules while Kilgore had 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting and seven rebounds. Poplar Bluff shot 68.1 percent from the field in the second half, including 7-of-12 from 3-point range after hitting 9-of-22 shots in the first half and missing 11 free throws. Poplar Bluff hit 8-of-12 free throws in the fourth quarter.
Sikeston's pressure defense in the first half helped build a lead but it also got the Bulldogs in foul trouble, sending the Mules to the line 14 times in the first half. The Bulldogs shot 51.8 percent from the field including 4-of-8 from 3-point range, but got outrebounded, 29-26, and had as many turnovers as the Mules.
Full story in Sunday's DAR
Discussion for the night ... free throw margin.
Fans love to talk about free throw margins, especially after a road loss. Tonight is a great example because Poplar Bluff hit 14-of-28 free throws to Sikeston's 5-of-11. Of course, stats can be misleading, here's why:
Mules shot 28 free throws but 5 attempts came in the final minute when Sikeston fouled to extend the game (leaving 23 attempts left to account for). The Mules also got to the free-throw line 5 times after an offensive rebound (take away those attempts if the Bulldogs get those rebounds and there's 18 attempts left). Take away the fouls following a turnover (a make-them-earn-it foul) that takes away four more attempts for the Mules, leaving 14 attempts.Sikeston shot 11 free throws, but two were and-1s, so if the Bulldogs missed the shot and went to the line for two free throws instead, add two more free throws to the total (13 attempts). One trip came after an offensive rebound (back down to 11 attempts) leaving a margin of three free throws. That's not a very large margin considering that the Bulldogs pressed early, picking up fouls while going for the steal, while the Mules also got to the line by drawing fouls on shots.
It should be noted that each team got fouled on one 3-point shot and that the Mules missed three one-and-ones, so the margin could have been six.
The biggest factor in the game was the 3-point shooting by the Mules in the second half. They hit 7-of-12 shots from long range and outscored Sikeston 48-31 in the second half.
- -- Posted by yah-yah on Fri, Feb 6, 2009, at 10:15 PM
- -- Posted by kingjames on Fri, Feb 6, 2009, at 10:15 PM
- -- Posted by kingjames on Fri, Feb 6, 2009, at 10:38 PM
- -- Posted by DonaldTrump on Sat, Feb 7, 2009, at 8:32 AM
- -- Posted by DonaldTrump on Sat, Feb 7, 2009, at 8:41 AM
- -- Posted by DonaldTrump on Sat, Feb 7, 2009, at 9:08 AM
- -- Posted by yah-yah on Sat, Feb 7, 2009, at 10:00 AM
- -- Posted by old school 71 on Sat, Feb 7, 2009, at 1:45 PM
- -- Posted by Rocket689 on Sat, Feb 7, 2009, at 3:28 PMBrian Rosener's response:I'm not trying to make anything sound better, I'm just saying the numbers don't always add up. If the Bulldogs press, they're more likely to draw a foul then if they don't. Since they were behind in the final seconds, they had to send the Mules to the free-throw line. If a team gets an offensive rebound, they will most likely score or get sent to the line. Since the Bulldogs picked up some early fouls, they had to get out of the press.
- -- Posted by 18_96 on Sat, Feb 7, 2009, at 5:05 PMBrian Rosener's response:Don't feel sorry for Sikeston's boys. They have a good coaching staff and a good team.
- -- Posted by kingjames on Sat, Feb 7, 2009, at 7:02 PM
- -- Posted by sportsfanatic on Sat, Feb 7, 2009, at 10:59 PMBrian Rosener's response:https://www.mshsaa.org/Officials/Application.aspx
- -- Posted by FarmBoy06 on Sun, Feb 8, 2009, at 9:00 PM
- -- Posted by sportsfanatic on Sun, Feb 8, 2009, at 9:39 PM
- -- Posted by FarmBoy06 on Sun, Feb 8, 2009, at 9:57 PM
- -- Posted by sportsfanatic on Sun, Feb 8, 2009, at 10:03 PM
- -- Posted by FarmBoy06 on Sun, Feb 8, 2009, at 10:12 PM
- -- Posted by Rocket689 on Mon, Feb 9, 2009, at 8:32 AM
- -- Posted by jayjayblueme on Mon, Feb 9, 2009, at 8:36 AM
- -- Posted by myershallred on Mon, Feb 9, 2009, at 9:07 AM
- -- Posted by PBDC on Mon, Feb 9, 2009, at 10:09 AM
- -- Posted by kingjames on Mon, Feb 9, 2009, at 10:12 AM
- -- Posted by myershallred on Mon, Feb 9, 2009, at 10:14 AM
- -- Posted by mandm96 on Mon, Feb 9, 2009, at 10:34 AM
- -- Posted by mandm96 on Mon, Feb 9, 2009, at 10:35 AM
- -- Posted by Kobeyashi on Mon, Feb 9, 2009, at 10:36 AM
- -- Posted by DonaldTrump on Mon, Feb 9, 2009, at 3:59 PM
- -- Posted by DonaldTrump on Mon, Feb 9, 2009, at 4:01 PM
- -- Posted by tlks2much on Mon, Feb 9, 2009, at 4:13 PM
- -- Posted by DonaldTrump on Mon, Feb 9, 2009, at 4:16 PM
- -- Posted by DonaldTrump on Mon, Feb 9, 2009, at 4:22 PM
- -- Posted by sportsfanatic on Mon, Feb 9, 2009, at 9:18 PM
- -- Posted by yah-yah on Tue, Feb 10, 2009, at 10:02 AM
- -- Posted by DonaldTrump on Tue, Feb 10, 2009, at 10:07 AM
- -- Posted by DonaldTrump on Tue, Feb 10, 2009, at 10:12 AM
- -- Posted by yah-yah on Tue, Feb 10, 2009, at 10:53 AM
- -- Posted by PBDC on Tue, Feb 10, 2009, at 11:06 AM
- -- Posted by yah-yah on Tue, Feb 10, 2009, at 12:43 PM
- -- Posted by mandm96 on Tue, Feb 10, 2009, at 1:11 PM
- -- Posted by semohoops on Tue, Feb 10, 2009, at 3:00 PM
- -- Posted by JAYSON on Tue, Feb 10, 2009, at 6:05 PM
- -- Posted by yah-yah on Tue, Feb 10, 2009, at 6:25 PM
- -- Posted by Haterade on Tue, Feb 10, 2009, at 10:37 PM
- -- Posted by DonaldTrump on Wed, Feb 11, 2009, at 10:19 AM
- -- Posted by jayjayblue is poo on Wed, Feb 11, 2009, at 10:33 AM
- -- Posted by JAYSON on Wed, Feb 11, 2009, at 4:47 PM
Posting a comment requires free registration:
- If you already have an account, follow this link to login
- Otherwise, follow this link to register