MCPHERSON, KANSAS – Central Christian (2-1) score a season-high 90 points in route to 90-87 victory over the Sterling Warriors (1-3).

MATCH SUMMARY

1^st Half

Byron Staten started the game off with a contested basket in the paint to give the Tigers the early 2-0 lead.  At 11:44 remaining in the 1^st, Sterling would score a basket putting the Warriors up 21-13. Over the next 4 minutes both teams would trade baskets and Warriors maintained their 8 point lead. At the 4:27 mark, a 3 pointer by Reece Warren put the Tigers within a possession deficit 35-33. At the 1:00 mark the Tigers reclaimed a lead since the opening possession of the game, 45-43. Sterling closed the half on a 6-2 run including a buzzer beater 3 to go up 49-47.

Sterling shot 19-33 from the floor (57.58%) and hit 5-3 pointers and converted on 6 of 7 free throws.

Tigers shot 16-37 from the floor (43.24%), including 6-3 pointers and converted on 9 of 11 free throws.

2^nd Half

Tigers started the 2^nd half on a 18-15 run through the first 8:30 to even the score 64-64. At the 6:14 mark, the Warriors built an 8 point lead, 77-69. The Tigers, however went on 13-4 run to retake the lead 82-81 with 2:55 remaining. Warriors scored a 3 their next possession to go up 84-82, but once again the Tigers responded with a 3 of their own to go up 85-84 with 2:16. After a failed 3 pointer for the Warriors the Tigers responded with a 3^rd straight 3 pointer to go up 88-84 for their largest lead of the night. The Warriors were able to knock down a 2 pointer and get a free throw to get the game within 1, 88-87 with 20 seconds remaining. Isaiah Rivera knocked down 2 clutch free throws on a loose ball foul to put the Tigers up 90-87 with 6 seconds remaining. With Sterling coming up short on their last second 3 point attempt the Tigers walk away with a 90-87 comeback victory.

Tigers shot an incredible 7-11 from beyond the arc to help fuel the second half comeback. Overall the Tigers shot 32-67 (47.8%) from the floor, made 13-3 pointers and made 13 free throws.

Warriors did still shoot better percentage overall (54%) going 34-63 from the floor.

UP NEXT

Tigers will play game 2 of their Classic tomorrow against Randall University (1-3) at 4:00 p.m.

CENTRAL CHRISTIAN QUOTES

Head Coach Tony Romero

"I am happy to finish another close game. Give a lot of credit to Coach Hooker and his team, they played a solid game. I thought for most of the game, they played with greater effort than we did. I think we are really struggling to find our identity right now. We need to focus more on the defensive side of the ball right now. Some positives, we were able to make some shots tonight. We were able to sit down at the end and make some plays on both sides of the ball. DeMario and Byron made some key shots in the last two minutes to give us a little cushion."

SERIES HISTORY

This is the 2^nd meeting between the two teams.

Tigers remain perfect in the series at 2-0.