Man High School basketball coach Jimmy Justice honors Cory Spence prior to Friday night’s game for recently scoring his 1,000th career point. Photo/Steven Browning
Matewan (12-1) led just 13-12 after one quarter and 25-24 at the half. The Tigers then outscored the Billies 20-19 in the third to take a slim 45-43 advantage.
But then Matewan outscored Man 21-11 in the fourth to pull away for the victory and drop the Billies to 5-9 on the season.
Cory Spence led Man with a 21-point effort. He was honored prior to the game for recently surpassing the 1,000-point plateau for his career. Jordan Simpson added 11 points for Man.
Adam Copley had eight and T.J. Hoosier and Tyler Browning had four apiece. Ryan Crum, Travis Hurley and Evan Riggins all had two points.
Matt Kennedy led Matewan with 20 points. Colton Copley netted 18 and Brandon Burgraff 15. Josh Sammons had eight, Chaz Clusky three and Nathaniel Mitchell two.
Matewan was 16-of-25 from the free throw line for the game. Man was 9-of-16.
Spence sank three 3-pointers on the evening. Copley had two and Browning and Simpson had one each.
Burgraff and Clusky each hit one from downtown.
Kennedy and Copley each finished with a double-double. Kennedy pulled down 13 rebounds while Copley had 14 boards.
With the win, Matewan won its 10th straight game. The Tigers are new Class A sectional opponents for Man this year along with Gilbert, Williamson and Burch.
Man coach Jimmy Justice said Matewan won the game inside the paint.
“They started pounding us inside,” Justice said. “We didn’t have anybody to stop them no matter what defense we were in. We’ve got to learn how to play defense and get after it. We’re too much offense-oriented. We’ve got to find a way to get five people on the floor who are going to get after it.”
The Billies looked to keep the game close late as Simpson’s bucket cut the Matewan lead to 49-45 with 5:49 left in the contest. But then Matewan went on a late run to pull away. The Tigers also got the job done at the foul line as Matewan connected on 8-of-8 free throws in the final two minutes of the game. Sammons was a perfect 6-of-6 down the stretch.
Man is scheduled to return to action on Monday at home against Westside. The Billies then go to Gilbert on Feb. 13 and host Van on Feb. 16.
Man plays at Logan on Feb. 17, goes to Burch on Feb. 19 and hosts Gilbert on Feb. 21. Man plays host to Chapmanville on Feb. 24 and hosts Iaeger on Feb. 26 in the regular season finale.
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