TIGERS SHOW HEART, SHRED INDIANS LATE

JACKSON, Mo. -- Giving up isn't Cape Central's style.

Trailing by 11 points with 4:57 to go in the third quarter, Cape Central could have cashed it in. After all, the Tigers weren't supposed to win anyway.

Instead, the Tigers (6-14) finished the quarter on a remarkable 11-2 run and came all the way back to beat the Jackson Indians 63-55 in front of a huge, raucous crowd at Jackson High Tuesday night.

The gritty Tigers have now won three straight games, with two coming as upsets over Cape Girardeau County teams. Central knocked off Notre Dame in four overtimes last Wednesday.

"We just play with such heart," said Cape Central's J.P. Limbaugh, who scored six of his 10 points in the fourth quarter and was one of five players to score in double figures for the Tigers. "We're just coming together as a team and we're jelling."

The game was basically a stalemate the first half with the Indians taking a 26-23 lead into halftime. But Jackson (9-13) started the second half on a 10-3 run, making its first five shots and scoring on its first six possessions to take a 38-27 lead.

Then things started to change with a timeout.

Central calmed down, clamped down and eventually wore down Jackson, which has lost five straight games dating back to Jan. 20.

The Tigers' Michael Cox played perhaps his best basketball of the season in the last three minutes of the third quarter. He scored seven consecutive points for Central and came up with several huge steals.

"I told the team at halftime that I wasn't getting the ball as much as I wanted to," said the 6-foot-3 Cox, who ended up with 13 points. "I thought if I got the ball I could score or get fouled."

Central coach Brett Reutzel agreed with Cox's assessment.

"He wanted the ball and we talked about finding him," Reutzel said. "He was able to get it in the paint and score and that opened up some other things. He can be explosive at times."

Jackson entered the fourth quarter with a 40-38 lead but suddenly found open looks hard to find. Beginning in the third quarter, the Indians went on an eight-minute drought where it scored just one field goal. During that span, Central outscored Jackson 22-4 and found itself leading 51-41 with 3:10 left.

"We didn't execute," Jackson coach Mike Kiehne said. "They picked it up defensively and started doing some things offensively. They made some big plays. As the game went on, we didn't get the same looks. And when you're not putting shots up, you're not going to score and you're not going to leave teams behind."

The Indians cut the deficit to five points with :44 left, but came no closer.

Central made 18 of its 26 free throws in the fourth quarter (69 percent) and made 26 of 38 for the game (68 percent).

T.J. Erlacker scored 11 of his team-high 16 points in the fourth quarter. His layup with 5:53 to go gave Central its first lead of the second half. Chris Cole added 12 points and Justin Welker ended up with 10.

Seth McDowell led all scorers with 18. Brad Hilbert added 11. Hilbert scored Jackson's first six points on three-pointers on the Indians' first two possessions.