WESTON – Up 44-38 with just two minutes remaining, the Buckhannon-Upshur Buccaneers couldn’t close out the Lewis County Minutemen Monday night in Big 10 Conference action.
Lewis County ended the game on a 9-0 run sending the Bucs to a 47-44 loss.
The loss dropped the Bucs to 1-2 overall and 1-2 in the Big 10.
The Bucs struggled offensively in the first half, scoring just 11 points and making just five field goals.
A putback by Jaden Westfall left the Bucs down 8-6 but Lewis County ended the opening frame on a 5-0 run for a 13-6 lead going into the second quarter.
Down 17-7, Carter Zuliani put in consecutive baskets to bring the Bucs to within six, at 17-11, but Lewis County closed the quarter with five unanswered points putting the Bucs down 22-11 at the half.
B-U was down 25-13 before rattling off a 7-0 run closing the gap to five, at 25-20, with 90 seconds gone in the third.
Down 33-25, B-U went on a 7-0 run to close the frame getting a three-pointer from Jerin Westfall and four straight free throws from Zuliani trimming their deficit to just one, at 33-32, going into the fourth quarter.
Manny Robinson uncorked a trey for Lewis County to open the fourth quarter, but Jaden Westfall scored on a lay-up and Malaki Williams turned in an old-fashioned three-point play to give B-U a 37-36 advantage.
Ben Putnam gave the lead back to Lewis County with a putback, but the Bucs went on a 7-0 run behind a putback from Zuliani, a trey from Ian Strader and two foul shots from Zuliani for a 44-38 lead with 2:04 remaining.
Unfortunately for the Bucs, they wouldn’t score again as they had two costly turnovers in the final 120 seconds.
Robinson hit a three for the Minutemen making it 44-41 with 1:48 remaining and Aidan Anderson made four clutch free throws down the stretch giving Lewis County a 45-44 advantage. Robinson broke away for a lay-up at the buzzer to wrap up the scoring.
Lewis County improved to 3-2 overall and 3-1 in the Big 10 Conference.
They were led by Robinson’s 14 points while Griffith added 13.
Zuliani stayed hot on the season recording his third double-double in as many games with 18 points and 15 rebounds.
Strader added 11 points for the Bucs.
Buckhannon-Upshur owned a 42-33 rebounding margin.
B-U will be back in action Wednesday hosting Lincoln at 7:30 p.m.
The boxscore:
Buckhannon-Upshur 6 5 21 12 – 44
Lewis County 13 9 11 14 – 47
Buckhannon-Upshur 44
Carter Zuliani 6-14 6-7 18; Ian Strader 4-12 1-2 11; Jaden Westfall 3-5 1-2 7; Jerin Westfall 1-8 0-2 3; Malaki Williams 1-5 1-3 3; Bryson Johnston 1-3 0-0 2; Nathaniel Ringer 0-2 0-0 0; Jevon Westfall 0-1 0-0 0; Luke Yardley 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-50 9-16 44.
Lewis County 47
Manny Robinson 4-10 4-5 14; Tanner Griffith 4-10 1-3 13; Ben Putnam 3-12 5-7 11; Aidan Anderson 3-8 2-2 8; Bryant Zielinkski 0-0 1-2 1; Landyn Taylor 0-2 0-0 0; Caleb McKee 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-42 13-19 47.
Three-point field goals – Buckhannon-Upshur: Stader 2-6; Jerin Westfall 1-6; Jevon Westfall 0-1; Ringer 0-1. Totals 3-14; Lewis County: Griffith 4-9; Robinson 2-3; Taylor 0-1; Putnam 0-2. Totals 6-15.
Rebounds – Buckhannon-Upshur: Zuliani 15; Jaden Westfall 6; Jerin Westfall 5; Strader 4; team 4; Johnston 3; deadball 3; Jevon Westfall 1; Williams 1. Totals 42; Lewis County: Putnam 8; Robinson 7; Anderson 5; Zielinkski 4; team 3; deadball 3; Taylor 2; Griffith 1. Totals 33.
Assists – Buckhannon-Upshur: Jaden Westfall 5; Jerin Westfall 3; Johnston 1. Totals 9; Lewis County: Putnam 6; Anderson 1; Zielinkski 1. Totals 8.
Steals – Buckhannon-Upshur: Jaden Westfall 2; Zuliani 2; Jerin Westfall 1. Totals 5; Lewis County: Anderson 3; Griffith 2; Zielinkski 2; Putnam 1. Totals 8.
Blocked shots – Buckhannon-Upshur: Zuliani 3; Jaden Westfall 1. Totals 4; Lewis County: Anderson 3; Putnam 1; Robinson 1. Totals 5.
Turnovers – Buckhannon-Upshur: 12; Lewis County: 13.
Personal fouls – Buckhannon-Upshur: 17; Lewis County: 13.
