Pleasant tames the Tigers in MOAC clash

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GALION — The Galion Tigers opened their three-game, regular-season ending homestead Friday against conference foe, the Marion Pleasant Spartans. Pleasant outplayed Galion, 69-39.

With just two regular season games remaining, the Tigers are 3-17 overall and 1-10 in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference Red Division. The Spartans are 14-6 and 7-3.

“We just played a better team tonight,” said Galion’s head coach Matt Valentine. “They moved the ball better on offense while we were galloping on defense.”

Galion found itself in a hole early which would be too deep to climb out of. Pleasant was full throttle from the opening tip and exploited the Tigers’ inability to handle a full-court press scenario. After the first quarter of play, the Spartans led 16-9. Offensively, Galion never seemed to get things firing on all cylinders, turning the ball over five times in each of the first and second quarters. At the half, Spartans had a comfortable 31-17 lead.

Galion scored just eight points in the third as Pleasant went off for 22 points to pad their hefty lead. The Tigers got the most productivity out of their offense in the fourth quarter, led mainly by reserves, outscoring Pleasant 14-13.

“W weren’t hustling on either end of the court and we weren’t crashing the boards; all things that have hurt us all season,” Valentine said.

Galion was outrebounded by Pleasant, 31-21 and 10 of the Spartans’ boards came on the offensive end, leading to second chance points. Rounding out the teams stats for the Tigers were eight steals, eight assists and two blocks. The Tigers shot 33% overall for the contest (15/46) while the Spartans knocked down 49% (26/53) of their attempts.

Isaiah Alsip would be the leading scorer on the night for Galion with 12 points to go with two rebounds, two assists and two steals. Jack McElligott had six for the Tigers and Colten Skaggs had five to go with six rebounds. Gage Lackey finished with four points as did Nic Sorrenson, who knocked down a big three pointer to gain the attention of the quiet Galion student section. Zhamir Anderson had three points, Chase Cooke and Mario Freeman both finished with two while Tristan Baldy rounded out the scoring with a point.

Pleasant had three player rack up double digit points totals on the night in the win. Joe Craycraft and Ethan Warner poured in 16 points apiece and Nick Kimmel dropped 11 points against Galion.

The Tigers will have some time to prepared for their next contest and last league meeting of the season. On Saturday Feb. 18, the Marion Harding Presidents will be in town to tip-off against Galion. The final game of the season will be Friday Feb. 24 against the Crestline Bulldogs.

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By Chad Clinger

[email protected]

Find Chad on Twitter @GalionSportsGuy

Reach Chad at 419-468-1117 x2048

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