Memorial edges Central twice in Gamble

[KFDM COOP]

Memorial edges Central twice in Gamble

In their third game of the day, the Memorial Titans squeezed out a 38-37 victory over the Central Jaguars in the second and final day of the 14th annual James Gamble Classic in Port Arthur.

            Memorial also defeated Central in Saturday’s morning game by a score of 53-51. After that game, Port Arthur moved on to play LaMarque, who was waiting for the Titans in the winner's bracket with a first-round bye.

            The strong LaMarque team kept Memorial at bay for all four quarters, downing the Titans 56-48 and went on a critical 14-0 run in the second half that buried Port Arthur.

    LaMarque lost 62-44 to Aldine Eisenhower in the championship game.

    With its second win over Central, Memorial finished the tournament 3-2 and is now 10-9 for the season.

    In Port Arthur's second win over the Jags, Memorial was down 37-34 with just a minute to play in the contest. But the Titans answered with four straight points and forced the Jags into a turnover as time expired.

    JeKore Tyler dropped in a bucket with 53 seconds to play to cut the score to 37-36. Then Dominique Thomas scored off a rebound with 18 seconds left on the clock. That score proved to be the winning bucket, giving Memorial the 38-37 advantage.

    Central called a timeout to draw up a play; but as the Jags came up the floor, Memorial pressed Beaumont into a bad pass.

    The Titans' Tevin Turner grabbed the pass and dribbled off the rest of the clock.

    Central had the lead all through the first half until Harry Brown scored on a wraparound layup from under the basket with four ticks left in the half. That score gave Memorial an 18-17 lead going into the locker room.

    Central trailed all through the third quarter and did not regain the lead until Jamar Gulley made a layup off a rebound to give the Jags a 35-34 advantage with 2:07 to play.

    As close as the score was, the lead changed hands only four times.

    Tyler led the Titans with 10 points while Harry Brown scored eight and Tevin Turner tallied up seven points.

    Tyler also scored 24 against Central in the earlier game, and he pulled down a game high, 13 rebounds against LaMarque.

    Brown led Memorial with 17 points against the Cougars.