Bears down Tigers to repeat as champs

The top two boys seeds in the Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament faced off Friday in the main event — the championship game.

The defending OFC champions and the No. 1 seed Greenville Bears looked to repeat as they took on the No. 2 Neelyville Tigers at Three Rivers College’s Libla Family Sports Complex.

After a tough back and forth battle for the lead, the Bears reigned supreme with a 70-63 win to claim back-to-back OFC titles.

Both teams entered the contest evenly matched, and whoever took control would ultimately walk away with the victory. Unlike Greenville, the Tigers stepped onto the court with a five-game winning streak, holding a lot of momentum before tipoff.

The game kicked off with a lot of energy as neither was willing to give in to the pressures of falling behind. The Bears connected with the first bucket with back-to-back 3-pointers from Easton Evans to give them the first lead.

After a few missed opportunities, the Tigers quickly found their stride with some solid shooting from around the perimeter. In the second quarter, both teams began trading a series of baskets, keeping the game as close as possible.

While Neelyville held a one-point advantage right before the half, Talan McDaniel connected from inside the paint for the Bears to bring the game even at 27-27 by the intermission.

The second half was crucial as each possession mattered dearly for both teams. Most of the third quarter stayed close, but a quick run from the Bears gave them the edge heading into the fourth.

Despite holding a 46-40 to start the final period, the Bears needed to stay in attack mode to get past the Tigers. The last five minutes of the game went to another level as the crowd erupted with each made basket.

As the pressure began to peak with the clock running down, a burst from Evans and big Trey Porter gave the Bears the cushion they needed to repeat as champs. Though the Tigers continued to make plays to cut the lead within five points, the clock wasn’t on their side to make a run.

Evans led the Bears with 25 points, while Porter finished with 19.

Grant Hale led the Tigers with 20 points, Kye Wolfram had 14 and Casen Stephens had 13.

Bears head coach Nathan Walk said coming into the game, he knew it was going to be tough.

“This Neelyville team is well coached and scrappy, I knew this was going to be a battle,” Walk said. “We knew that we’re going to have to step up to the challenge and they made it close all the way through, but we were able to stretch out a little run there at the end of the third. We scratched and clawed and hung on in the fourth and I couldn’t be prouder of this team.”