While the Bearden Lady Bears were looking to continue their good momentum of their wins over Hampton, the boys' team was looking to get revenge against the Bulldogs. The Bears lost on the road to Hampton 56-43 on December 7th. Bearden felt more confident in their ability to get to the basket and take down their rival as they took a big 11-point lead into halftime. While Bearden had a great first half, Hampton had a better second half as they finished the game strong as the Bulldogs held off the Bears for a 60-58 win.
Hampton started the big with some quick and aggressive buckets in the paint. It took a while for the Bears to get their offense going as their guards were being held in tight contention. As the first quarter went on, the Bears were able to exploit some weaknesses in the paint. Forward Bradley Gilmore and center Thomas Brunston were getting great opportunities to put points on the board early. A clutch shot from Trae Harding put Bearden up 15-14 at the end of the first quarter.
Hampton looked to be more aggressive in the paint to suppress the bigger players of Bearden. This only opened up more opportunities for the efficient shooters of the Bears to create a great shooting performance in the second quarter. Harding and guard Ryder Howard were the players that made several huge shots to drive the Bears' offense to shoot 8-of-16 in field goals in the second quarter. Bearden outscored Hampton 22-12 to take the 37-26 lead going into halftime.
The offense for the Bulldogs found life in the third quarter as forward Ta'vion Gilbert led the charge for a more effective second half. Hampton was more aggressive at attacking the basket in the second quarter as they passed the ball throughout the court. The Bulldogs made 7-of-12 of their shots in the third quarter against a Bearden defense that found themselves often beat in transition. After starting the first half with a great shooting performance, the Bears were shooting cold throughout the remainder of the game. Their 11-point lead was reduced to a two-point 48-46 lead at the end of the third quarter.
That poor shooting performance in the third quarter continued in the fourth quarter. The Bears ran out of steam against a Bulldogs team that was more aggressive in the second half. Bearden lost their lead a minute and ten seconds into the fourth quarter, but neither team kept their lead for long. Just as Bearden felt they were losing their grip on the game, Harding hit a clutch three-pointer to tie the game 56-56 with less than two minutes left. Hampton hit the game's final shot with 20 seconds left to go 60-58 and finished out the game forcing a turnover on the inbounds pass.
Bearden was 14-of-29 in the first half but shot 5-of-21 in the second half. Bearden was able to get to the free-throw line as they were 7-of-10, but they were anticipating more fouls called in the second half. The Bulldogs, however, were able to find success at getting the fouls called and made the most of the opportunities at the line. Hampton was 14-of-23 at the free-throw line.
Gilmore was efficient at getting points and rebounds in the paint on both ends of the court. Gilmore led the Bears in points scored with 18, shooting 6-of-8 in field goals as well as six rebounds. Harding scored 15 points and accounted for three rebounds and two steals. Howard accounted for 11 points, one rebound, and one block.
The Bears fall to an overall record of 6-7 with a 4-5 in conference play. Bearden will have a chance to get its get back on the positive end of the win column as they will be on the road on Tuesday night as they take on the Gurdon Go-Devils (1-8; 0-5 in conference play).
Photo By: Michael Hanich Bearden guard Trae Hardng looks to pass the ball in the game against Hampton.