Republic came from 13 points down at halftime, took their first lead with under three minutes to go, and beat Rogersville 54-50 Saturday. Kevin Stander had 18 points and Nick Yocum had 15 for the Tigers, who took 3rd place at the Republic Invitational.
Yocum scored 11 of his points in the first quarter to keep the Tigers close. But Rogersville outscored Republic 18-6 in the 2nd quarter, and looked like they were in control at halftime, with a 34-21 lead. At the start of the 2nd half, Rogersville built a 15-point lead, before Republic began to chip away.
The Tigers had cut the lead to seven points with seven seconds left in the 3rd quarter, when Rogersville’s Dylan Cole was called for a personal foul, then a technical foul. The Tigers hit two of four free throws, then scored on the subsequent possession, when Kevin Stander drained a 15-footer at the buzzer, to cut the lead to 43-40.
Two free throws by Dylan Fletcher with just under three minutes remaining gave the Tigers their first lead, at 48-47. A series of free throws helped Republic build the lead to six, before the score ended at 54-50.
In addition to Stander and Yocum, the Tigers got 9 points from Josh Morrow, 5 from Jonathan Combs, 4 from Dylan Fletcher and 3 from Josh Fanning.
Republic improves to 2-1, and Rogersville falls to 1-2.
