A third-quarter meltdown saw the Christian County Colonels go from down 2 to down 20 in the space of 8 minutes on the way to a 72-55 loss to visiting Bowling Green on Monday night. The Colonels drop their fourth in six outings to slip to 9-10 overall, while the Purples win their eighth-straight to move to 14-2.
The Colonels started slow and trailed 6-0 early, but battled back to tie the game at 10-10 after a 3-pointer by Eric Brody. Stephon Bussell’s 3 at the buzzer wouldn’t go down, and Bowling Green led 12-10.
Nate McGregor tied the game with a basket to start the second, followed by 1 of 2 free throws from Olajuwon White for the Colonels first and only lead of the night. Shay Stowe scored and hit 1 of 2 free throws to pull Christian County to within 2 with 2.7 second left in the half, but the Purples went the length of the court and Jordan Dingle beat the buzzer with a layup for a 27-23 halftime advantage.
McGregor began the third with a bucket off an assist from Fred Tandy, but the Purples reeled off a 14-1 run for a 41-26 lead. After a foul and technical on the Purples, the Colonels hit 2 of 3 free throws and Bussell came up with a steal and score to get within 10 with 1:36 left in the quarter.
That’s where things went downhill for the Christian County, with a couple of Colonel technicals and another buzzer-beating layup giving the Purples a 51-31 advantage. Bowling Green’s Turner Buttry hit 8-9 free throws and finished with 11 points in the frame.
The Colonels picked up three more technicals early in the final quarter, with the Purples hitting 5 of 6 free throws to go up 60-38. Bussell hit a 3, followed by a layup from Herb Forte to get Christian County to within 14, but they couldn’t get any closer and the Purples went on to the 72-55 victory.
Bussell led all scorers with 18, followed by Brody with 10 for the Colonels.
For the Purples, Buttry finished with 15, Isaiah Mason had 14, and Davion Dice scored 12.