Tigers tame Red Devils

By Staff
Todd Thompson, Hartselle Enquirer
MOULTON - Hartselle picked up a road win Thursday night in a game featuring two teams heading in opposite directions.
The Tigers forced several key turnovers in the second half to rally for a 60-56 victory over Lawrence County.
Hartselle has now won four straight after getting off to a 3-8 start to the season.
One of those early losses came to Lawrence County in the Hartselle Sporting Goods House Special tournament in November.
The Tigers used a balanced scoring attack to pick up the road win. Hartselle’s Alex Brown scored 15 to lead four players in double figures.
Brown also led the Tigers with nine rebounds.
Jeremy Roper added 12 points and nine rebounds, while Rodney Stansberry and Manquez Jones both finished with 10 in the win.
Hartselle shot 52 percent from the field in the second half to erase Lawrence County’s slim halftime lead.
Matthew Pugh had 14 points for Lawrence County after hitting six of his eight shots, while Miles King added 13.
Durman Cunningham led Lawrence County with 12 rebounds, though many of the rebounds came on the offensive end of the floor as the Red Devils struggled to find their shooting touch.
Lawrence County shot just 34 percent from the field in the second half and finished just under 40 percent for the game.
The Red Devils outrebounded Hartselle 35-26 in the game.
After trading leads several times in the first half, Lawrence County put together a 20-point second quarter to take a 30-28 margin into halftime.
The Red Devils got a bucket from Pugh in the opening minutes of the second half and looked ready to make a run on the Tigers.
Manquez Jones nailed a 3-pointer with 4:06 remaining in the third quarter to give Hartselle its first lead since the second quarter.
The 3-pointer also sparked a 13-2 run that helped the Tigers open up a 47-38 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
Manquez Jones scored seven points during the four-minute stretch, while Brown, Fleischman and Stansberry also added baskets for the Tigers.
Lawrence County’s only points of the final four minutes of the quarter came on a pair of free throws by Chasten Echols.
Fleischman hit three of four free throws in the early minutes of the fourth quarter to give Hartselle its largest lead of the game at 50-40.
Lawrence County trimmed the lead to four points with two minutes left, but Fleischman pushed the lead back to six points at 55-49 when he scored on a put back of a missed free throw.
Hartselle held off the Red Devils by making five of six free throws in the final minute of play. Jones hit two free throws in the final 10 seconds to nullify a 3-pointer by Lawrence County’s Adam Fagan.