After letting a double-figure lead slip and trailing at the halftime break, the Hopkinsville Tigers held hosts Clarksville Northwest to only 17 second-half points and pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 63-46 victory Tuesday night. The Tigers even their record at 2-2 ahead of a visit from Christian County on Friday night at Tiger Gym.
Jamarcus Burks helped the Tigers to a strong start with a layup and a corner 3-pointer to force a Northwest timeout just a minute and a half in with the Tigers leading 7-0. Reece Jesse, playing his first game this season, scored 4-straight down low and Don Victor drained a 3-pointer with seconds left for an 18-10 Tiger lead after the first.
The Tigers scored the first 4 points of the second, with a KC Cabiness putback leading to a 10-point advantage at 22-12. However, Northwest’s Ametri Moss caught fire, with the last of his 14 second-quarter points coming on a pull-up jumper with 2:15 left in the half to give the Vikings their first lead at 26-25. Northwest took a 4-point edge into the locker room at halftime.
Victor opened the second half with a 3-pointer and the Tigers retook the lead at 33-32 after a 3-point play by Arthur McKnight. With the game tied at 35-35, a player for each team got tangled up and Hoptown was called for a technical, seemingly lighting a fire under the Tigers. Daisjaun Mercer scored on a drive, followed by an and-1 by Cabiness to give the Tigers a 4-point lead after three quarters.
Mercer provided the spark in the fourth, scoring the Tigers’ first 5 points, before McKnight drilled a 3 to put them in control 48-41 with 4:26 to play. It was all Hoptown the rest of the way, as they closed the game on a 15-5 spurt, with Jesse scoring down low off a pass from McKnight for the Tigers’ final points.
Four Tigers reached double figures, led by Victor’s 13. McKnight followed with 12, 10 in the second half, with Cabiness finishing with 11. Mercer scored 10 and Burks added 7.
Moss was the lone Viking in double figures, leading all scorers with 23.
