WILLARD, Mo. — Joplin trailed by double digits in the second half only to put on a furious rally down the stretch on the way to an 80-77 Central Ozark Conference win with senior guard Always Wright’s career-high 41 points.
The Eagles (17-7, 5-3 COC) trailed by nine at the intermission and fell behind by as many as 11 in the second half before rallying back in the final six minutes of action to take the lead and hold off the Tigers (14-11, 2-6 COC) for the conference road win.
SCORING LEADERS
Wright led the way for Joplin with 41 points. He scored 19 in the second half and 12 points in the fourth quarter as the offensive catalyst in the win.
All Wright finished with 18 points, while Brantley Morris scored 11 to give Joplin three players in double figures.
Haden Brown led Willard with 29 points, while Gavin Davis finished with 22 points in the loss. Brett Hall closed with 13 for the Tigers.
GAME ACTION
Joplin went into the half down 43-34 before Willard pushed the lead to 52-41 with less than five minutes to play following back to back buckets from Brown.
Joplin used a 9-0 run late in the third quarter to trim a 10-point deficit down to 56-55. Morris started the run with a driving score before Always Wright knocked down a floater. Morris buried a 3-pointer to cut the lead to three before All Wright converted on the drive to close the run.
Brown added a three-point play and Hall knocked down a 3-pointer for Willard to give the Tigers a 62-55 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Always Wright made the first three baskets for the Eagles out of the break, trimming the Tigers advantage to five points, 66-61, in the process. All Wright converted from the perimeter at the 5:41 mark to cut the lead to four and scored on the drive the next possession to make the score 68-62 with 4:55 left in regulation. Always Wright brought Joplin all the way back with a stepback mid-range jumper with 4:25 on the clock to tie the game at 68s.
Joplin took its first lead of the game since early in the first quarter with less than four minutes to play after Morris drilled a 3-ball from the wing to make the score 73-70.
Willard tied the game up on an inside bucket from Davis only for Morris to bury another 3-pointer from the corner at the two-minute mark to give the Eagles a 76-73 advantage.
Brown scored inside with a minute left to cut the lead to one, but Always Wright answered with two free throws with 29 seconds left to push the lead back to three.
Brown again found room inside on the drive, but with 10.2 left in regulation, Always Wright converted both shots at the foul line to keep the Tigers three points shy of a tie.
Willard missed a shot at the buzzer, sending Joplin to the conference road win.
UP NEXT
Joplin hosts Neosho on Tuesday.
