GALION — The Galion Tigers dropped a home non-conference game to the visiting Madison Rams on Tuesday night by a score of 51-24.
In a battle of two teams looking for their first win, the Rams were tough on defense from the start.
Madison led 11-4 after the first quarter, quickly giving them some breathing space. Jayden Jeffries paced the Rams with 13 points and Levi Zehner added 10 of his own.
“Their zone kind of slowed us down a bit, which I knew it would,” said Madison coach Doug Rickert. “We missed so many post feeds, but we did a good job in the third quarter of getting it into Jayden (Jeffries).”
Galion trailed 19-9 at halftime and was not able to get much offense going until late in this one. The Tigers had their best quarter in the fourth scoring 10 points.
Rece Payne and Hanif Donaldson each scored seven points to pace the Tigers.
Galion coach Bobby Gossom liked the zone the Tigers were able to implement in the first half.
“That’s what we’re trying to do, but when you get down you have to pick up man,” Gossom said.
Galion had 22 turnovers, compared to just 10 by Madison.
Gossom was able to point out where things went wrong within the Tigers offense.
“We’re just not patient. We don’t run our stuff and we force things,” Gossom said.
Galion continues to look for their first win, but Gossom continues to see some positives within his team, despite the tough season so far.
“There’s times where we come out with a lot of energy,” Gossom said. “There’s other times where we are really flat. It’s taken a toll on all of us because that first one is always the toughest.”
Madison (1-9) has competed in multiple games this season and finally picked up their first win, which had Rickert glad to see.
“We’ve been playing much better basketball of late, just haven’t gotten over that hump and tonight it was nice,” Rickert said.
Galion (0-14) plays host to St. Peter’s (0-13) on Saturday. The Tigers travel to Bucyrus (3-12) on Feb. 9.
Galion resumes the Mid Ohio Athletic Conference schedule on Feb. 10 when they play host to River Valley.
