ORRVILLE — After enduring a physical, fast-paced game, the Keith Bears took over the fourth quarter, scoring 25 points, and beat the Francis Marion Rams 70-58 Tuesday night.

With the win, the Bears move to 5-1 on the season. The win also marks Keith Coach Tommy Tisdale’s 101st as the varsity boys coach.

The Bears led for most of the game, but failed to score in the first four minutes of the second half, allowing Francis Marion to get back within reach.

The Rams tied the game at 41 with 1:40 left in the third quarter, but Keith’s Anfernee Simmons drained a three-pointer immediately after the tie and the Bears never looked back.

“Once we finally got that basket in the fourth quarter, it opened the lid again and we were able to stretch the lead to double digits,” Keith coach Tommy Tisdale said. “From that point on I just challenged them to keep the intensity until the final horn.”

Forcing turnovers may have been another reason behind Keith’s win. Francis Marion turned the ball over 28 times and only racked up eight assists, which ultimately doomed the Rams, Francis Marion coach Johnny McCalpine said.

“You just don’t win with 28 turnovers, that’s the bottom line,” McCalpine said. “We got to back to practice and start from the bottom, basically fundamentals. The bright spot was at least we played hard for a majority of the game.”

Keith jumped out to an early first quarter lead behind 14 points from Simmons, who had a total of 23 points in the game, but Francis Marion kept it close. At the end of the first quarter, the score was 21-15.

Both teams scored 17 points in the second quarter, getting contributions from multiple players.

Keith’s performance in the third quarter was lackluster. The Bears only scored seven points, most of which came in the final two minutes. Francis Marion slimmed the lead slightly, scoring 10 points.

The fourth quarter was the highest scoring for both teams, but it was clear Keith had more momentum.

The Bears got off to an 11-point run to begin the quarter, behind a flurry of made free throws from Maurice Crumpton and Jaequan Simmons.

Francis Marion also got a strong effort in the fourth quarter from Darrius Brooks, who scored eight fourth quarter points and 11 in the game.

 

Keith 60 – Francis Marion 50 (Girls)

The Keith Lady Bears opened up a big lead but faced a battle in the fourth quarter before pulling off a 60-50 win over the Francis Marion Lady Rams.

Keith got lazy in the fourth quarter, coach Cecil Williams said. The Lady Rams outscored the Bears 20-10, but Keith held on for the victory.

“We had a 20 point lead at one point but we just got too relaxed, that’s the main thing,” Williams said.

Though the game was closer than it could have been, Williams said he was happy with the victory. Harriet Winchester led the Lady Bears with 16 total points.

In the fourth quarter Francis Marion looked to be making a comeback, but with six minutes left, Williams called a timeout to prevent the Lady Bears’ lackadaisical attitude from continuing.

“We had one series where none of our players got back on defense,” Williams said. “Maybe we had one player who actually got back to defend.”