Lima Temple Christian's fourth quarter rally dealt the visiting Ada High School boys basketball team a tough 51-44 defeat in non-conference play Saturday night, February 12 .
Ada led 12-9 after the first quarter, and maintained a 27-25 edge at intermission.
The Bulldogs edged ahead by four points 36-32 after the third period.
But LTC came up with a big 19-8 fourth quarter to pull off the comeback win.
Ada led by one point with about two minutes left in the final stanza. Temple beat a Bulldog trap near halfcourt down the sideline, and the hosts converted a traditional three-point play to seize the lead for good.
The Pioneers then sank several free throws down the final stretch to hold on for the win. Temple outscored Ada 16-9 at the foul line to provide the seven-point margin of victory.
"We fell apart at the end," said Ada head coach Vince Halliday. "We never really played well. Honestly, I can't explain it. "
The Bulldogs fell to 4-17 after losing their 13th game in a row. Meanwhile, LTC improved to 4-15 with the win as they stopped a four-game slide. The Pioneers had lost nine of their last 10 games coming into the contest.
Cayden Murphy topped Ada with 20 points. Ethan Murphy added eight markers.
Cody Motter led LTC with 15 points, six rebounds and four steals. Landon Callahan tallied 10 points, snagged eight caroms, dished out five assists and made three steals.
Jarred Huffaker contributed eight points and nine rebounds.
Ada found the bottom of the net on 15 field shots, sinking 10 two-pointers and five trifectas. The Bulldogs converted nine of their 14 charity stripe attempts (64 percent).
Temple also canned 15 field goals, connecting on 10 two-pointers and five triples, the same as Ada.
The Pioneers converted 16 of 21 free throw attempts (76 percent).
Ada 44 (4-17)
C. Murphy 6 8-12 20, Conley 2 0-0 5, Wall 1 0-0 3, Leal 1 1-2 3, Preston 0, Sutherly 2 0-0 5, E. Murphy 3 0-0 8.
Totals: 10-5/9-14/44. 3-pointers: E. Murphy 2, Wall 1, Conley 1, Sutherly 1.
Lima Temple Christian 51 (4-15)
Dupree 1 0-0 3, Motter 4 6-7 15, Callahan 3 4-6 10, Huffaker 3 1-2 8, Draper 2 0-0 6, Kiser 1 5-6 7, Clay 1 0-0 2.
Totals: 10-5/16-21/51. 3-pointers: Draper 2, Dupree 1, Huffaker 1, Motter 1.
1 2 3 4 F
Ada 12 15 9 8 44
LTC 9 16 7 19 51
The Bulldogs (0-7 NWC) host Lincolnview (4-16, 2-5 NWC) Friday, Feb. 18 in the home and regular season finale. Ada is 2-7 at home this season.
