HANCEVILLE, Ala. – After falling in the Sub-Regional last season, the Meek Tigers have played their way back to the Northwest Regional and they hit the hardwood at Tom Drake Coliseum Monday morning to take on No. 4 Covenant Christian. The Tigers overcame a slow start in the first quarter and fought back to make it a 7-point game in the second half but couldn’t keep pace with the overpowering Eagles, ending their postseason run with a 62-34 loss in the Sweet 16.
Points were tough to come by for the Tigers early on and Covenant Christian was able to move ahead 7-0 midway through the opening period. The Eagles led 12-0 late in the first but Jarrett Benson put one in off the glass with 12 seconds on the clock to get Meek on the board and cut the lead to 12-2 going into the second.
Cam Deaver laid one in to make it an 18-4 game early in the second quarter and he added a pair of free throws on the next possession to make it 18-6. The Tigers continued to chip away with a pair of free throws from Braylen Roberts and David Tidwell drilled a three-pointer to trim the lead to 18-11 with just over a minute to remaining in the first half. Roberts split a pair of foul shots to make it a 22-12 game with 30 seconds on the clock and Meek went into the locker room trailing by 10 at the half.
Roberts scored inside and split a pair of free throws to start the third quarter, cutting the lead to 22-15 and later in the period, he knocked down a three to make it a 26-18 game. Ethan Barton buried a deep three a couple minutes later to make it 32-21 and Braxton Dickerson added a trey of his own near the end of the quarter, but the Tigers still trailed 38-24 going into the final frame.
The Eagles got off to a 5-0 start in the fourth quarter before another three-pointer from Barton stopped the run and made it a 43-27 game. Unfortunately, Covenant Christian was able to put together another big scoring run and pull ahead 56-27 midway through the period. Benson drained a jumper and Ephram Milne knocked down a three to trim the lead to 59-32 with just over a minute to play. Tidwell added another jumper from the left corner, but the Tigers ran out of time and the Eagles went on to win it 62-34.
Roberts led the way for Meek with 10 points in the loss. Barton finished with six, Tidwell added five, Benson and Deaver each scored four and Dickerson posted three. Senior Tigers David Tidwell and Ephram Milne will graduate in May but with a lot of experience returning to Meek next season, they’ll be primed for another postseason run.
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