By Cort Reynolds
PAULDING - Visiting Ada rallied late to beat Paulding 57-51 in a tight Northwest Conference boys basketball contest Friday night.

Ada trailed 38-35 heading into the fourth period, but the Bulldogs outscored the Panthers 22-13 over the final eight minutes to pull off their second road win of the season.

"We made some adjustments against their zone after the third quarter break, and our guys did an awesome job of coming out and executing those adjustments," explained Ada fourth-year head coach Dre White.

"That stretch was key and credit goes to our guys for making plays in crunch time," White continued. "We got up by eight points, and were able to finish it out by taking care of the ball and making free throws."

Ada senior wing Phillip Coulson led all scorers with 20 points.

Bulldog junior point guard Brandon Hull tallied 13 points. Junior guard Micah Cook contributed nine points, and junior guard Zac Swaney added eight markers.

"I am proud of the guys for this one," said White. "A road conference game is always difficult, and at Paulding is even more of a challenge. I told the guys beforehand that the two keys were energy and toughness. 

"We could not show up and afford to be asleep after a long bus ride, and we would need to be mentally tough throughout," he continued. "We were able to dodge a few bullets, but overall I thought those keys were what led us to a win.

"I am mostly happy that everyone did the job we needed them to do," he added. "Brandon got people involved. Phil scored. Zac played defense. Ty (Miller), (Jake) Rayl and Cayden (Murphy) played with toughness inside, slowing down their bigs. And Micah made clutch free throws."

Ada improved to 7-11 overall and 2-3 in the NWC after the big win, while Paulding fell to 4-12 and 2-4 in the NWC after the defeat.

The game was tied 10-10 after one period of play, and Ada edged ahead 22-18 by halftime. Paulding forged in front with a big 20-13 third quarter to lead by three heading to the final stanza.

But then Ada put together the big 22-13 fourth quarter to pull off the victory.

Payton Beckman led Paulding with 14 points. Seth Dysinger added a dozen markers.

The Bulldogs canned 20 of 38 shots overall from the field (53 percent) in one of their best shooting games of the year. Ada made five of 13 from beyond the arc (38 percent) and hit on an accurate 15 of 25 two-point attempts (60 percent).

Paulding connected on 19 of 39 field goal tries overall (49 percent). The Panthers sank 15 of 27 two-point tries (56 percent) and connected on four of 12 triple tries (33 percent).

Ada converted 12 of 18 from the foul line (67 percent), while Paulding canned nine of 10 tries from the charity stripe (90 percent).

The Panthers out-rebounded Ada, 21-16. Hull topped the Bulldogs with three caroms. Paulding committed 16 turnovers while Ada made a dozen errors.

The Ada reserves fell to 7-8 (2-4 NWC) this season with a 63-32 loss in the undercard. 

Ada 57 (7-11, 2-3 NWC)
Swaney 3-0-8, Hull 5-2-13, Coulson 7-5-20, Rayl 1-0-2, Cook 2-4-9, C. Murphy 0-1-1, Miller 2-0-4. 
Totals: 20-38/12-18/57. 3-pointers (5-13): Swaney 2, Coulson 1, Hull 1, Cook 1.

Paulding 51 (4-12, 2-4 NWC)
McGarvey 3-2-8, Manz 2-0-4, Edwards 0, Kauser 5-2-13, Dysinger 6-0-12, Schroder 0, Price 0, Beckman 3-5-14.
Totals: 19-39/9-10/51. 3-pointers (4-12): Beckman 3, Kauser 1.

    1    2    3    4    F
Ada    10    12    13    22    57
Pau    10    8    20    13    51
JV: Paulding 63, Ada 32.

With four games remaining in its regular season, Ada visits improving league foe Spencerville (4-12, 1-4 NWC) Friday, February 7. 

"Spencerville got a big win Friday; they are a much better team than what their record indicates," said White. "They will be good defensively, and we must be ready for that."

The Bearcats earned their first NWC win by throttling Allen East 59-31 Jan. 31 at home. Surging Spencerville has won two in a row heading into a game Saturday vs. struggling New Knoxville (2-15), which is on a 13-game losing skid.