NMCC outlasts Zebras

NEW MADRID -- The New Madrid County Central Eagles basketball team held off a fourth quarter rally to edge the Pine Bluff, Ark. Zebras 56-54 Friday afternoon in the first night of the Riverbend Classic in New Madrid.

The first quarter of Friday's contest began as a defensive struggle as both teams looked to find a offensive rhythm in the year's first game.

NMCC led Pine Bluff 14-9 at the end of the first quarter. Things began to heat up in the second quarter when Pine Bluff's Stephan Collins hit a 3-point jumper from the corner to tie the game at 16 with 5:15 left in the first half. However, after Collins basket, NMCC went on an 11-2 run to take a nine point lead into the halftime locker room.

In the third quarter, both teams continued to struggle with shooting and offensive execution. NMCC increased its lead by a point to bring the tally to 40-30 as the fourth quarter began.

The majority of the fourth quarter was a continuation of the back-and-forth struggle. The Zebras would not go down quietly and pulled to within five points, at 52-47, with 1:22 left in the game. Pine Bluff continued to make shots as they pulled to within one at 55-54 with 27 seconds left in the game. Pine Bluff was able to regain control of the ball after an Eagle turnover. However, the Zebra's Chandler Savage committed a turnover of his own when he stepped out of bounds as he looked for the open man from the corner.

With 15 seconds left on the game clock, Pine Bluff had to quickly foul NMCC and Keith Holmes stepped to the line. The Zebras still had a chance after Holmes missed both shots and point guard Terrance Skyes brought the ball down the floor to half court with seven seconds left in the game. Skyes looked for the open man, but with the Eagles G'Darius Stevenson playing tight defense, Skyes overthrew his target and the ball sailed out of bounds to give NMCC control. After another quick foul, Dontre Jenkins' one free throw gave the Eagles their final margin of 56-54.

Pine Bluff committed only five turnovers to NMCC's 15, however their last two turnovers proved to have a major impact on the outcome.

Another deciding factor Friday afternoon was rebounding. The Eagles out-rebounded the Zebras by an astounding 51-13.

NMCC (1-0) head coach Travis Day felt that his team's ability to control the boards was critical to their win.

"Rebounding was a critical factor for us today," Day said after his team's narrow victory. "Because we out-rebounded them we were able to limit their second shots and that played a big role. That was one of the things I looked for us to go out and do and it was a big help to us."

Pine Bluff (0-1) head coach Ron Moragne echoed that sentiment.

"They probably out-rebounded us by more than three to one," Moragne said. "They were just more physical than we were around the basket."

Moragne also felt his team's inability to find an offensive rhythm and the Eagles sound defense as factors in the game.

"We just started the game out too slow," Moragne said. "We fell into a little hole and got behind and never really got into an offensive rhythm until late in the game. They (NMCC) did a good job on defense."

Ultimately, rebounding and mental mistakes were the undoing of Pine Bluff.

"Mental mistakes and rebounding really hurt us today," Moragne said. "We have got to do a better job rebounding and getting physical around the basket. We have also got to do a better job executing on offense."

Although he was pleased with the win, Day felt that mental mistakes and poor clock management almost cost his squad the game, but that defense and rebounding proved to be what pushed them over the top.

"We played hard today, but we just didn't play very smart," Day said. "It was the first game of the year so you are going to make mistakes like that. We have to learn how to better finish games and control the clock in our favor. Our defense played well against a good Pine Bluff team who has some good shooters. We had some positive and some negatives today but we were able to get the win. That's what this time of the year is for, to get better as you go."

The Riverbend classic continued Saturday and final results can be found in Monday's Standard Democrat.