The Houston Tigers came close to an upset victory in the Mansfield Tournament.
HHS rallied from an early deficit against second-seeded Gainesville and led late in the third quarter. The Tigers had three shots to tie the game late in the fourth before falling 51-45 in Tuesday’s opening round.
Houston (0-2) will play Fordland at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the consolation bracket.
“I’m very happy with our effort,” said first-year Tigers coach Tom Brown. “I know we didn’t win, but we had the opportunity to win in the final minutes.”
Curry Van Horn led Houston with 13 points. Jacob Kelley and Rodney Preheim grabbed six rebounds apiece.
Mistakes cost the seventh-seeded Tigers an opportunity to complete the upset. Brown said his team missed four layups and was called for 11 traveling violations.
Houston also struggled offensively. The Tigers managed just 53 shots — a number Brown, who wants to play at a fast pace, said is too low — and shot 33 percent.
Houston was 4-for-14 from the field in the fourth quarter, including three misses with the chance to tie the game near the end.
“Our shooting, which I thought would be our best asset, isn’t there yet,” Brown said. “But our defense is above where I thought it would be.”
Gainesville led 16-8 after the opening quarter and led by as many as 14 points in the first half.
“We started slow again,” Brown said.
Houston responded by closing the gap to five at the half. The Tigers eventually took a two-point lead late in the third quarter before a Gainesville 3-pointer made it 36-35 entering the fourth.
Brown, who gave the Tigers a ‘C’ on offense and ‘B+’ defensively, praised his team’s effort. Preheim drew three charges, and he said Houston’s fullcourt defense was strong. The Tigers forced 18 turnovers.
“We played a very solid team,” Brown said. “The boys played so much better. They improved leaps and bounds from the first game.”
| Houston | 8 | 17 | 10 | 10 | – | 45 |
| Gainesville | 16 | 14 | 6 | 15 | – | 51 |