Central tumbles in Jungle farewell

The T-shirts worn by Cape Girardeau Central fans looked a little prophetic Friday night.

The shirts, emblazoned with "I was at the Tiger Fieldhouse when the lights went out," were to honor the Tigers' final game at their gymnasium.

They weren't printed for the lights-out first-half shooting display by Sikeston senior Justin Freeman.

Freeman hit four of his five 3-point attempts in the half to spark Sikeston to a 55-42 SEMO Conference victory over Central.

Freeman's second 3-pointer midway through the first quarter put Sikeston (13-9, 4-2) ahead for good, but the Bulldogs were never able to shake the Tigers until late in the fourth quarter.

The loss continued a frustrating year for Central, which fell to 0-7 in the league and 4-18 overall after its seventh straight loss.

"I kept thinking we were going to pull it out," Central senior guard Matt Cardin said. "We just didn't. This was a tough one."

Cardin and senior teammate Elliott Swoboda played their final home games before a large and raucous crowd that embodied the gym's nickname: "The Jungle."

McCord saluted his two seniors, who have seen their share of tough times.

"Through the down seasons the last couple of years, those two have had every opportunity to quit and be sitting in the stands, but they chose to stay tough and battle and be out there," McCord said.

The going-away party for the Tigers and their gym, which opened in 1977, also wasn't lost on the Tigers' coach.

"It was just a great atmosphere and the kids appreciate the way the fans have stuck with us and supported us," he said.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, Freeman also showed up to turn out the lights. He scored 12 of his game-high 16 points in the first half.

"Take away the threes we allowed him to get and we played a tremendous game defensively," McCord said.

Sophomore Ryan Delph led Central with 11 points and a team-high nine rebounds.

Freeman's 3-pointer at the 4:22 mark of the first quarter gave Sikeston a 6-5 lead and sparked a 10-3 Bulldog spurt. Sikeston threatened to break the game open in the second quarter as it opened a 21-10 advantage, but Central stubbornly cut the lead to 21-15 by halftime.

"We had every opportunity to come back and beat them, especially in the third quarter," Cardin said. "They were missing their shots and we were missing ours."

Central closed to 24-21 when Anthony Harris put back an offensive rebound with 5:48 left in the third period. Trailing 29-25, the Tigers weren't able to fully capitalize on a technical foul call on Lontas McClinton, who missed an alley-oop slam dunk on a fastbreak and was then whistled for hanging on the rim. The Tigers hit one technical free throw and turned the ball over on the accompanying possession.

Sikeston took a 33-29 lead into the fourth quarter and widened the gap despite spotty foul shooting down the stretch. In one span, Sikeston missed six of eight free throws, but Central hit just 4 of 9 free throws in the period and was 11 of 22 for the game.

"If we hit some free throws down the stretch, then it comes down to the wire," said McCord."That was the difference tonight."

McClinton, a junior, averaging 18 points a game, finished with 12 points.

jbreer@semissourian.com

(573) 335-6611, extension 124