Four late turnovers and some key missed free throws in the final five minutes of play cost the Cougar basketball team their second straight victory to open the season Thursday evening as the visiting Muhlenberg County Mustangs escaped the Cougar Den with a 47-45 victory.
The Cougars led by three points, 43-40 with 1:05 left to play, but Mustang senior guard Landon Gunterman scored all seven points of a 7-2 Mustang run that gave the visitors the win. Gunterman’s driving layup with 1.7 seconds showing on the clock provided the winning points.
The game was close from the start and Grayson County led by two, 12-10 after the first period of play, but the Mustangs opened the second period on a 9-0 run to take their largest lead of the night, seven points at 19-12 with 4:09 left in the half. Grayson County trailed by five, 24-19 at the break.
Brett Payton’s three-pointer at the 2:19 mark of the third quarter tied the score at 31-31, but Noah Phillips buried a three with 1:16 left and the Mustangs took that three-point lead into the final period of play.
When the Cougars opened the fourth quarter with an 8-1 run, they held their largest lead of the night, four points at 39-35 with 3:55 remaining to be played.
The Mustangs came back to within a point of the lead, 41-40 with 1:58 left, but an awkward, prayer of a lay-up by Grayson County’s Q’Daryius McHenry with 1:05 left gave the Cougars a 43-40 lead. That’s when Gunterman began his heroics for the Mustangs.
Gunterman buried a three with 36 seconds left to tie the score 43-43. Gunterman then stole the inbounds pass and hit a lay-in with 28 seconds left to put the Mustangs ahead 45-43.
McHenry then made a 1-on-1 move to hit a tying lay-up with 12 seconds remaining. When the Mustangs turned the ball over with five seconds left, it appeared the Cougars would be able to hit a last second shot for a win, but amazingly, they turned the ball over again trying to inbound the ball and the Mustangs took possession with 4.7 seconds left.
Gunterman took the inbounds pass near halfcourt and took off like a shot toward the Mustang basket and was unchecked as he laid the ball off the glass for the winning bucket.
Gunterman led the Mustangs with 15 points, while sophomore guard Nash Divine added 12.
Junior Nolan Shartzer led all scorers with 19 points and he led the Cougars with seven rebounds and four steals. Senior Spencer Sharp joined Shartzer in double figures with 12 points. McHenry finished with nine and added six rebounds. Payton finished with three points, while Matthew Loughran closed out the scoring with two points.
In the JV game, a 12-1 Cougar run in the fourth quarter gave them a 37-32 lead with just under two minutes to play, but they would not score again. That allowed the Mustangs to reel off seven unanswered points to win the game 39-37.
Evan Clark and Jaxon Higdon both scored nine points for the Cougars, while Payton and Mason Galloway had six apiece. Timmy Hanover had three points, while Hunter Saltsman and Hunter Tomes both had two to complete the scoring.
By Don Brown, Local Sports
Reach Don at donbrown@k105.com
