Notre Dame's pressure defense unravels Poplar Bluff boys

Jordan Barber walked across the court Friday night during Notre Dame's homecoming ceremony wearing a protective boot on his injured left foot. Chase Urhahn also didn't dress as the Bulldogs were without two starters.

It didn't matter.

Notre Dame's relentless defense picked Poplar Bluff clean to the bone for a 76-51 SEMO Conference win.

"We got after it from the very beginning," Notre Dame coach Kevin Roberts said. "When we play hard, we're a really good team."

Quinn Poythress scored all but four of his 25 points in the second half, and Grant Ressel added 22 points to lead Notre Dame (13-7, 3-3 SEMO). Thomas Himmelberg provided four 3-pointers for 12 points off the bench as the Bulldogs hit 10 of 19 long-range shots.

Notre Dame’s Jordan Williamson shoots between Poplar Bluff’s Shannon Woods (35) and Stacy Gipson, right, during the first half Friday. (Brian Rosener ~ Daily American Republic)

"Quinn really excelled his game, and I don't know if there's anybody playing better than Grant Ressel," Roberts said. "He's playing with that confidence.

"We had contributions across the board tonight from everybody."

Poplar Bluff's 6-foot-7 center Stacy Gipson led the Mules (9-12, 1-4) with 14 points, eight rebounds and six blocks. Chris Stocks added 10 points.

"They played really hard," Mules coach Will Durden said about Notre Dame. "That press took us out of what we were doing.

"We've faced that same press six times this year," he added. "Not sure what happened tonight."

Notre Dame forced 31 turnovers and held the Mules to 25 points before a wild fourth quarter in which the teams combined to score 56 points.

Poplar Bluff's only basket during a 17-minute stretch midway through the game was a fastbreak dunk by Gipson. The Mules scored nine points at the free-throw line during that span as Notre Dame went on a 34-11 run.

It was close early with five lead changes and two ties in the opening quarter.

Patrick Tillman's 3-pointer at the 3:03 mark put the Mules ahead 10-9, but Himmelberg answered with a 3-pointer 25 seconds later and Notre Dame never trailed again.

Trenton Schumer's lone basket that kissed the glass came on a drive up the middle to break a tie as Notre Dame took a 14-12 lead into the second quarter.

"Offensively, I thought we executed really well," Roberts said. "We made the extra pass to a wide-open shooter.

"We passed up good shots for great shots tonight."

Ressel sank his second 3 then got a steal for a layin to quickly push the margin to seven early in the second quarter.

Gipson's dunk came with 5:40 left in the half after a scramble for a loose ball at midcourt. It was the first bucket by Poplar Bluff since Tillman's first-quarter 3-pointer and the Mules didn't get another field goal until there was 1:49 left in the third quarter.

By then, Notre Dame's lead was 24 points.

"They played like we want to play on offense," Durden said. "We work on offense every day, and they showed us how to run it."

Notre Dame led 21-18 before Himmelberg's pass set up a layin by Derek Hulshof with 1:40 left in the half. Himmelberg then followed a Poplar Bluff turnover with a 3-pointer. After the Bulldogs drew a charge, Poythress scored an easy layin off a pass as Notre Dame took a 29-18 lead into halftime.

Poplar Bluff didn't score again until Gipson's two free throws with 2:22 left in the third quarter. Joseph Eyler's pull-up jumper at the 1:49 mark was the first field goal by the Mules since Gipson's second-quarter dunk.

During the Bulldogs' 14-0 run to start the second half, Poplar Bluff only got off three shots while turning the ball over five times.

Notre Dame led 46-25 heading into the fourth, during which the Bulldogs scored 30 more points.

"Honestly, Notre Dame played a little harder in that press," Durden said. "We just didn't handle it very good there.

"They played harder than we did."

Notre Dame 76, Poplar Bluff 51

Poplar Bluff 12 7 6 26 -- 51

Notre Dame 14 15 17 30 -- 76

POPLAR BLUFF (51) -- Joseph Eyler 5, Pat Tillman 8, Shaquan White 2, Stacy Gipson 14, Nick McAnulty 5, Brandon Stuckenschneider 4, Chris Stocks 10, Shannon Woods 3. FG 15, FT 19-27, F 23. (3-pointers: Tillman 2. Fouled out: Tillman)

NOTRE DAME (76) -- Hunter Eftink 5, Tanner Shively 2, Quinn Poythress 25, Trenton Schumer 2, Grant Ressel 22, Thomas Himmelberg 12, Derek Hulshof 4, Bobby Jansen 4. FG 25, FT 16-25, F 24. (3-pointers: Poythress 2, Ressel 4, Himmelberg 4. Fouled out: Crippen)

JV -- Poplar Bluff won 48-43.