BOYS SEMO CONFERENCE: Cape Central stymies Poplar Bluff in SEMO Conference Tournament

Poplar Bluff's Joseph Hardimon (13) shoots over Cape Central's Doreante' Tucker (21) during the second half of the first round of the SEMO Conference Tournament on Monday, Dec. 9, 2019, at the Sikeston Field House in Sikeston, Mo.

DAILY AMERICAN REPUBLIC/Brian Rosener

SIKESTON, Mo. — Poplar Bluff went nearly 6 1/2 minutes without scoring in the first half Monday night, stuck on eight points and already down double digits.

The Mules rallied to within six midway through the third quarter and got as close as five with 10 minutes still to play.

But the third-seeded Cape Central Tigers withstood Poplar Bluff's comeback to advance with a 58-47 win over the Mules in the opening round of the SEMO Conference Tournament at the Sikeston Field House.

"This is a sign of an inexperienced team — we claw our way back in and we get it to six and then we have four straight bad possessions," Mules coach William Durden said.

Jamarre Sellers scored 13 points for Poplar Bluff while Kendrick Brown had 12 and Joseph Hardimon added 11 for the Mules, who shot 44% from the field.

Doreante' Tucker scored 18 points, Tyrus Reddin added 13 and freshman Cameron Williams chipped in 11 for the Tigers. Dorian Triplett was a bucket shy of a double-double with eight points and 10 rebounds as Central finished plus-8 on rebounds.

The Mules (1-1) fall into the consolation semifinal for only the second time in the last six years.

The Tigers were playing for the third time in four days while Poplar Bluff was coming off a 16-day layoff since a season-opening home win.

Central (4-0) won the Fountain City Classic in DeSoto on Saturday with a 54-51 win over Rockwood Summit.

"I was a little worried about being tired," Central coach Drew Church said. "Overall, I like the way we competed."

The Tigers used an 11-2 run midway through the opening quarter to pull ahead. Tucker broke a 6-all tie with a tip-in off an inbound pass and Reddin got a basket in transition.

After the Mules got a basket from Brown on a reverse layin, Zach Moore answered with a catch-and-shoot 3 from the wing and Reddin got a steal and scored at the other end for a 13-6 advantage.

Reddin's 3 later put the Tigers up 18-8 and Central opened the second quarter with a baseline jumper by Williams. Triplett's putback off a missed foul shot capped a 14-2 run by the Tigers for a 22-8 advantage.

"We looked at the (scoreboard) and we were playing really bad offensively, and they were playing pretty good," Durden said. "They're playing good on defense and it was 22-8."

The Mules ended their drought with a pair of foul shots by Hardimon at the 2:47 mark of the second quarter but Moore answered with another 3.

Central's lead reached 17 points and the Mules, who scored 100 in their opener, trailed 34-21 at halftime.

"We needed to spread the floor and pass the ball around, share the ball," Durden said. "It's hard to play 1-on-5 and the way we moved the ball, well, we got what we wanted but Cape's a great team, they got great athletes and they're well coached.

"They looked the part of being ranked."

Central, ranked in Class 4 of the preseason state coaches poll, withstood Poplar Bluff's 9-2 run to start the third quarter when Tucker got a three-point play.

Luke Becker scored off a pass from Gage Rivers and Brown got a steal, setting up Darian Webb for a transition basket cutting Central's lead to 39-34.

Tucker, however, answered with a 3 off a pass from Reddin with 1:46 left in the third and the Mules were never closer.

The Tigers led 44-34 entering the fourth and led by at least eight the rest of the way despite committing seven of their 22 turnovers.