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The Ulysses Tigers would battle back from multiple 14-point deficits to make a game of it Friday afternoon, but the Manhattan Indians would prove to be too much, winning 46-38 to grab their first Tournament of Champions victory.
They will now move on to the fourth and sixth place game this afternoon as they used 58 percent shooting to dispatch of the Tigers early.
“We really got after it defensively, we were going to change how we played from the night before, we had to go out man and really be aggressive,” said Manhattan head coach Tim Brooks. “We took them out of a lot of things that they’re good at offensively. It would’ve been nice to build on our 20-point lead, instead of watching it crumble, but when you’re not in those situations that often, that can happen.”
The Indians would come out with guns ablaze during the first quarter, using a potent combination of offense and defense to jump all over the Tigers.
It was a first quarter to forget, as the Tigers couldn’t score a field goal and never got to the free throw line, as the Indians moved into the second with an 11-0 advantage.
Despite finding themselves with a glimmer of hope to crack into the Indian lead, they could not break the interior Manhattan defense, as Taylor and Deante’ Burton worked the transition game, allowing players like John Perbeck to get uncontested layups.
At the half, the Tigers had only six points on the board, but working in their favor was the fact that Manhattan had only 17, giving them a goal to shoot for in the second half.
It was clear why the Indians held an 11-point lead going into the locker room, as they shot 50 percent from the field and 40 percent from the three-point line, while Ulysses could only muster 25 percent from the field with no threes and no free throw attempts.
The third quarter would be more of the same for the Indians, as Manhattan would use the quick hands of Burton and the long-range prowess of Brandon Payne to stretch their lead to 15.
The Tigers would find a spurt of energy as they attempted to climb back into the contest, as guard Chase Newell found senior Garrett Kissell on the inside for the hoop and the harm, pulling Ulysses within their halftime deficit.
Ulysses, despite being down 14, continued to scratch and claw with the Indians, applying defensive pressure that resulted in a couple steals and putbacks.
A big three-pointer from Kyle Zerr brought the Tigers back within 10 as the clock approached four minutes left in the game, the closest Ulysses had been since the opening quarter.
The tide continued to turn late in the game as Tate Annis of Ulysses drove down the floor after a Manhattan turnover, scoring the hoop plus the foul, bringing the lead to eight after the missed free throw. Two more free throws from Annis cut the lead to six with just 3:30 remaining.
However, the Tigers couldn’t chip away enough of the lead, as the Indians iced the game away with free throws down the stretch, moving into the fourth place game, while Ulysses will battle for seventh.
“A win tomorrow is huge, we’re playing for a fourth place trophy, you’re playing for momentum to get back into conference and we open with a tough Highland Park game next week,” Brooks said. “At this point, any win is going to give you confidence and hopefully we can show up with the same intensity that we had today.”
The Tigers outscored the Indians 23-15 in the fourth quarter, eclipsing their previous three quarters of point production, but 12-of-20 free throw shooting by Manhattan in the second half got the job done.
The Ulysses Tigers would battle back from multiple 14-point deficits to make a game of it Friday afternoon, but the Manhattan Indians would prove to be too much, winning 46-38 to grab their first Tournament of Champions victory.
They will now move on to the fourth and sixth place game this afternoon as they used 58 percent shooting to dispatch of the Tigers early.
“We really got after it defensively, we were going to change how we played from the night before, we had to go out man and really be aggressive,” said Manhattan head coach Tim Brooks. “We took them out of a lot of things that they’re good at offensively. It would’ve been nice to build on our 20-point lead, instead of watching it crumble, but when you’re not in those situations that often, that can happen.”
The Indians would come out with guns ablaze during the first quarter, using a potent combination of offense and defense to jump all over the Tigers.
It was a first quarter to forget, as the Tigers couldn’t score a field goal and never got to the free throw line, as the Indians moved into the second with an 11-0 advantage.
Despite finding themselves with a glimmer of hope to crack into the Indian lead, they could not break the interior Manhattan defense, as Taylor and Deante’ Burton worked the transition game, allowing players like John Perbeck to get uncontested layups.
At the half, the Tigers had only six points on the board, but working in their favor was the fact that Manhattan had only 17, giving them a goal to shoot for in the second half.
It was clear why the Indians held an 11-point lead going into the locker room, as they shot 50 percent from the field and 40 percent from the three-point line, while Ulysses could only muster 25 percent from the field with no threes and no free throw attempts.
The third quarter would be more of the same for the Indians, as Manhattan would use the quick hands of Burton and the long-range prowess of Brandon Payne to stretch their lead to 15.
The Tigers would find a spurt of energy as they attempted to climb back into the contest, as guard Chase Newell found senior Garrett Kissell on the inside for the hoop and the harm, pulling Ulysses within their halftime deficit.
Ulysses, despite being down 14, continued to scratch and claw with the Indians, applying defensive pressure that resulted in a couple steals and putbacks.
A big three-pointer from Kyle Zerr brought the Tigers back within 10 as the clock approached four minutes left in the game, the closest Ulysses had been since the opening quarter.
The tide continued to turn late in the game as Tate Annis of Ulysses drove down the floor after a Manhattan turnover, scoring the hoop plus the foul, bringing the lead to eight after the missed free throw. Two more free throws from Annis cut the lead to six with just 3:30 remaining.
However, the Tigers couldn’t chip away enough of the lead, as the Indians iced the game away with free throws down the stretch, moving into the fourth place game, while Ulysses will battle for seventh.
“A win tomorrow is huge, we’re playing for a fourth place trophy, you’re playing for momentum to get back into conference and we open with a tough Highland Park game next week,” Brooks said. “At this point, any win is going to give you confidence and hopefully we can show up with the same intensity that we had today.”
The Tigers outscored the Indians 23-15 in the fourth quarter, eclipsing their previous three quarters of point production, but 12-of-20 free throw shooting by Manhattan in the second half got the job done.
