KFDM COOP Posted February 5, 2008 Author Report Posted February 5, 2008 Nederland survives Lumberton in hoops action By Cody Pastorella The Port Arthur News NEDERLAND — It seemed like an uninspiring day at the office for the Bulldogs, who survived the Lumberton Raiders on Tuesday night in the Dog Dome. With basically the playoffs on the line, Nederland absolutely needed to beat Lumberton and did just enough to claim a 54-46 victory. While the Dogs were never really in jeopardy of losing, they never did enough to put the Raiders away. Lumberton’s Jonathan Ward cut the game to 45-43 after he converted an old-fashion 3-point play with 3:23 to play in the contest. But Nederland answered, scoring nine of the next 12 points. In that span, the Dogs hit seven free throws. The Raiders did cut the score to 52-46 with 18 seconds to play when Andrew Hall hit his third trey of the evening. Hall scored just nine points for the night but gave his team some hope at the end. However, Nederland’s Jordan Pitts hit two more free throws to end the game at 54-46 and improve the Dogs to 6-6 in District 22-4A. “We didn’t play like a team who is in a playoff hunt,†said Nederland head coach Brian English. “That was very unispiring basketball and if we play like that on Friday, we’re going to be in a lot of trouble. “At least we got the win but we’re going to have to have more intensity on Friday.†With the win, Nederland finds itself in a two-way tie for fourth place with Little Cypress-Mauriceville. The Dogs and Bears trail Dayton by one game. The Broncos squeezed out a 62-59 victory over Port Neches-Groves to improve to 7-5 and keep sole possession of the third and final playoff spot. Nederland plays Vidor on Friday in the Dog Dome. Vidor lost to LC-M on Tuesday night to fall fifth place at 5-7 in league play. With just two games remaining, Nederland must keep winning and hope Dayton loses to either Lumberton on Friday or No. 4 ranked Ozen on Tuesday. If Nederland, LC-M or Dayton end in a tie, a play-in playoff game would be necessary to decide which team moves on to the postseason. Against Lumberton, as half-hearted as the win was, the Dogs shot well from behind the arc. Nederland got hot from 3-point land for a two minute stretch in the third period to gain some momentum.
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