The first quarter ended in Blevins carrying a 19-16 lead, behind a great offensive performance from Xavier Bazzelle and Rilee Faulkner, who both scored 6 points in the first quarter. Keyonte Wingfield had some big shots in the first quarter to keep the Jays close, as Wingfield scored 7 of his 18 points in the opening quarter. The Hornets took advantage of Blue Jay Kavion Coleman's foul trouble, as he picked up his third foul with over 6 minutes remaining in the half, as Blevins outscored Nevada 23-13 in the 2nd quarter to take a commanding 42-29 lead into halftime. Blevins shot lights out in the first half, nailing seven 3-pointers, as Rilee Faulkner (13) and Xavier Bazzelle (12) combined for 25 first-half points.
The 2nd half started with Nevada trailing by 13 and some sloppy play saw the Blevins lead get extended to 18 points. Then Monti Mixon arrived to the party, as the freshman scored 9 points in the 3rd quarter, also playing great defensively to get the Jays back in the game, and cut the lead down to 5 points heading into the final quarter, with the Hornets on top 55-50. "Monti really helped turn this game, as we had a lot of players make big plays down the stretch but Monti got us going," Coach Mario Bell said as he spoke on his freshman player.
In the fourth quarter, Kavion Coleman got going, as he naiiled two big 3's in back to back possessions to get the crowd going and the Jays within one possession of the Hornets. In a very eventful fourth quarter, the last few minutes were back and forth, as neither team was willing to back down. Kobe Hughey got the ball with under a minute remaining and trailing by two, Hughey drained the go-ahead 3-pointer to give Nevada a 67-66 lead with under a minute to go. Blevins would answer as Xavier Bazzelle got a tough bucket to give the Hornets the 68-67 lead. Hughey would drive in the lane and draw the shooting foul with just seconds remaining, with ice in his veins, Kobe nailed both free throws to take back the lead from Blevins, 69-68. A last second shot would fall short and Caleb Moss secured the rebound for the Nevada win. Hughey had this to say after the win, "What really helped us win the game was hitting free throws down the stretch and we picked up defense full court."
Kavion Coleman played through foul trouble Tuesday night to lead the Blue Jays with 19 points, including 10 points in the fourth quarter. Keyonte Wingfield scored 18 points, as he really played a great game, as he shot really well early to keep Nevada in the game. Monti Mixon finished the game with 14 points, before fouling out late in the fourth quarter. Kobe Hughey scored 7 points, including the final 5 points of the game for the Jays. Brogan Rhodes scored 6 points, Justin Myrick knocked down a 3, and Caleb Moss scored 2 points to round out the scoring for the Blue Jays. The 2nd half was about big buckets late and defense from Nevada, as they allowed just 26 points the entire 2nd half, after Blevins scored 42 in the opening half.
Xavier Bazzelle torched the nets for 24 points, as he led the way for Blevins, and scored 12 of the 26 second-half points for the Hornets. Rilee Faulkner scored 13 points, all in the first half, as he was on fire to begin the game. De Page also scored 13 points for Blevins and Charles Hatchett scored 12 points, as he played big in the paint. Javier Gomez and Sean Rohan each scored 3 points to round out the scoring for Blevins.
With the win, Nevada clinched the conference and will be the 1-seed in the conference tourney, with Blevins sitting at 9-2, with a game remaining with Mineral Springs to round out their conference schedule. With a win the Hornets will be the 2-seed. Great game by both teams, and these two teams mixed with Kirby and Mineral Springs, will be sure to make a lot of noise throughout the conference, regional, and state tourneys.