CARTHAGE, Mo. — Nevada earned a third-place finish in the 74th Carthage Invitational after holding on for a 47-39 win over Joplin on Saturday.
The Tigers (4-2) jumped out to an early nine-point lead after the first quarter and remained in front into the intermission with a 22-18 advantage. Joplin’s defensive effort strengthened out of the break, using an early run to gain the lead midway through the third period. Nevada rallied to regain the lead before the start of the fourth, and held on down the stretch to clinch the win.
“It’s a really good tournament with high-quality teams,” Nevada coach Shaun Gray said. “Anytime you can come away 2-1, you’re happy with that. … It was good to bounce back today and get a win against Joplin.”
Logan Applegate led Nevada with a game-high 25 points, while Ben Hines added eight and Lane McNeley seven.
All Wright led Joplin with 15 points, while Always Wright finished with 14. LT Atherton added six in the loss.
“One bright spot through the whole tournament, and he probably won’t get a lot of credit, is LT Atherton,” Joplin coach Jeff Hafer said. “He is a war horse in there. He became much more of a threat on the block. He can do that, and we have to continue to develop that.”
Nevada opened the contest with the momentum, getting a 3-pointer and a fast-break score from McNeley followed by a 3-pointer from Applegate to jump it to an 8-0 lead and an eventual 12-3 cushion after the first quarter.
“It was big for us to build some confidence after struggling yesterday,” Gray said. “It just goes back to the fact that when you defend at a high level and get stops, it makes the offensive end easier. We want to be a team who hangs our hat on being really tough defensively, and then using those stops to feed us at the other end. I thought we did that well early in the game.”
The Tigers methodically pushed their lead to 10 points, 21-11, through the first five minutes of action in the second.
Joplin (3-2) closed the second period with a 7-1 run, trimming the deficit to 21-18 by halftime. Atherton had a score inside and All Wright knocked down a 3-pointer to fuel the run.
Success at the free-throw line was an issue for Joplin in the first half. The Eagles went to the charity stripe 11 times, but only converted six times.
“This one was really a five to six-point game and we had opportunities at the line, even late, to extend the game more,” Hafer said. “Free throws are crucial.”
The Eagles opened the second half with a strong defensive intensity, holding the Tigers scoreless for the first several possessions before ultimately limiting Nevada to one free throw in the first six minutes of action. During that span, Joplin went on a 7-1 run to take a 25-23 lead.
“We came out and started face guarding in the second half,” Hafer said. “We defended everywhere else (away from Applegate) much better. We kept guys in front of us and we rebounded. When you do that, you have a chance because we can attack downhill when we can get out in transition. Applegate did a good job of neutralizing that later.
“That’s the (defensive) segment we are going to look at because now they have shown they are capable. Now, it’s ‘how do we do that for four quarters?’”
Always Wright grabbed a defensive board and went coast to coast for a layup on the break to start the run. Atherton grabbed an offensive rebound for a putback score at the 4:48 mark to tie the game at 22-22, and Always Wright drained a 3-pointer moments later to put the Eagles on top 25-23 with three minutes left in the quarter.
Applegate, who accounted for all of Nevada’s 10 points in the second quarter as well as all nine points in the third, closed out the period with a 3-pointer and an old-fashioned three-point play to give the Tigers a 31-27 lead with eight minutes left to play.
“The fact that he can score at all three levels is important,” Gray said. “We talk a lot about not wanting to settle for perimeter shots because we have guys who are good perimeter shooters, and that’s the main part of their game. For Logan, himself, that’s probably one of the biggest strengths of his game as well. If you want to score by attacking the basket, he is the guy who has to lead the way. He was big for us.”
All Wright drilled a 3-ball to open the fourth, cutting the Nevada lead to 31-30. Both teams traded baskets until the Tigers built a small cushion following a Hines inside score and a 3-pointer from Logan McNeley off the assist from Applegate to put Nevada up 40-33 with three minutes to play.
Joplin struggled to get many open looks down the stretch in the half-court offense, allowing Nevada to build up a 6-2 run in the waning minutes to clinch the win.
“I think we are still finding our way (offensively),” Hafer said. “We are trying to find that balance. We have different guys getting varsity time now, playing a lot of different kids each night to figure out who can step up. … I was proud of how hard we played.”
UP NEXT
Joplin hits the road for a matchup with Springfield Central on Dec. 18.
Nevada travels to Bishop Miege for a 3:30 matchup on Dec. 19.
