A team leading at halftime may have won the battle, but the war isn’t won until the final buzzer sounds.
Tartan’s 80-65 win over Metro East foe South St. Paul would be perfectly described by that distinction, as the Titans trailed by six at halftime.
“We turned it over too much in the first half. I thought we had some bad, unforced errors,” said Tartan coach Mark Klingsporn. “I thought we had some bad defensive plays where we fouled when we shouldn’t have been fouling, so we had some kids sitting out.”
The Titans (14-1, 7-1) were able to turn it around and then some in the second half, as they outscored the Packers 51-30 to come away with a lopsided victory.
Tartan overcame a six-point halftime deficit to defeat South St. Paul 80-65 on the road on Thursday night.
The Packers were able to get the halftime lead despite playing without leading scorer, Alonzo Dodd (averaging 24.7 points per game), for most of the half due to foul trouble. Freshman guard Maxsamus Wilson stepped up with Dodd on the bench, making three three-pointers and scoring 13 first-half points.
The game completely changed in the second half, as the Titans (14-1, 7-1) took over. They also had to play the majority of this game without leading scorer, Joseph Kearney (averaging 14.7 points per game), as he received his fourth foul early in the second half.
Dorian Singer thrived in Kearney’s absence, as he scored a game-high 22 points, with 20 of them coming in the second half. He upped his aggressiveness and attacked the rim at will, which worked far more often than it failed.
Also reaping the benefits in the paint were Langston Binns and Curtis Favors, who had 19 and 15 points respectively, most of which came on layups.
The Titans suffocated the Packers with their stifling defense, forcing 26 turnovers.
The Packers (11-5, 4-2) were led by Marquis Gleb, who led the team in points, rebounds and assists, with 21, seven and five apiece.
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