Michael Buckner scored 21 points and Ryan O’Neil added 10 as the Houston Tigers held off Mountain View-Liberty 58-53 Friday night to complete the 48th annual Houston Tiger Invitational.
The Tigers lost 73-42 at West Plains Tuesday night.
Naylor, which the Tigers (2-2) defeated to open the season, won the tournament based on tiebreaker rules after three teams finished with 2-1 marks. Houston was second, followed by Alton and Liberty.
The Tigers built a commanding 43-27 lead against Liberty after three quarters and held on as the Eagles poured in 26 fourth-quarter points.
Buckner hit two 3-pointers and Chad Hutsell, who scored nine points, also connected from downtown. Ty Scheets chipped in six points and Tom Oakley added five.
Houston, which defeated Naylor 72-59 before losing to Alton in double overtime the following night, led 23-16 at the half and extended the advantage by out-scoring Liberty 20-11 in the third quarter.
At West Plains, the Zizzers took a commanding 25-9 first-quarter lead and cruised to an easy victory.
Buckner scored a team-high 12 points for the Tigers. Scheets had nine before fouling out and O’Neil added eight.
Buckner had a pair of triples, and Tyler DeWitt also hit a 3-pointer.
Jonathan Esteves hit four of West Plains’ nine 3s en route to a game-high 18 points. Justin Kraft scored 15 and Caleb Walker had 14 as four Zizzers reached double figures.
Houston, which trailed 51-20 at the half, out-scored West Plains 14-9 in the third quarter. Buckner had six points – all from the foul line – in the frame. O’Neil and Scheets added four points each in the quarter.
Houston, which has alternated wins and loses in each of its first four games, hosts Mansfield Monday.
Houston 9 11 14 8 – 42
West Plains 25 26 9 13 – 73
HOUSTON (2-2) -Page 1 2-2 4. Oakley 0 1-2 1. Buckner 2 6-8 12. Setters 1 1-1 3. DeWitt 2 0-2 5. O’Neil 3 2-2 8. Hutsell 0 0-1 0. TScheets 3 3-7 9. Totals 12 15-25 42-
WEST PLAINS -Tidwell 4 0-2 10. Riggs 2 0-0 5. Washington 2 0-0 5. Esteves 7 0-0 18. Kraft 6 2-3 15. Walker 5 4-6 14. Huff 3 0-1 6. Totals 29 6-12 73.
3-pointers: Houston 3 (Buckner 2, DeWitt); West Plains 9 (Esteves 4, Tidwell, Riggs, Washington, Kraft).