By Kyle Roberts
RUSTON, La. — Trailing going into the fourth quarter, the Ruston Bearcats (12-3) rallied to fend off a very talented Marksville Tiger team (17-3) in the Main Gym Tuesday night 62-54 thanks to a big run in the middle of the frame and timely free throws at the end by both junior Ahmad Hudson and sophomore Darren Ford.
And the Bearcats did it without a crucial piece in the offense as junior KeShun Malcolm was out due to illness.
“Marksville has a really good team,” Ruston High head coach Marcus Jackson said. “They do a great job coaching the kids up, and they execute really well. The did a good job of slowing us down ih the first half. Having KeShun out for the night kind of messed up our rhythm of most things we do.
“We’re still trying to get the kids back in the groove after football. But I think kids like Jayden Anding, Jasen Morgan, Cash Ingram, Khol Gray — they played well on the defensive end for us.”
When the ‘Cats needed it most in the final few minutes, they got the production they needed from Hudson and Ford, who combined for 44 of Ruston’s 62 total points and all 12 final points in the game.
“(Hudson) did a really asserted himself in the second half. If he does that, we’re hard to stop,” Jackson said. “We did a good job tonight (at the end) getting into our trap break and getting the right people we wnated to get the ball and shoot free throws.
Sophomore guard Kohl Gray opened the scoring early for the Bearcats with a quick steal on a hustle play and layup to put Ruston up 2-0 with 7:37 to go in the first. On the following Bearcat possession, Gray had another basket for the ‘Cats following a make from Marksville’s senior DeVoughn Hayes to go up 4-2. Sophomore Darren Ford got his first basket of the half with a step-back three-pointer to put Ruston up 7-2 at the 5:37 mark. The Tigers cut the lead to 9-7 shortly after with a 7-2 run thanks in part to Dayne Small’s first three-point basket of the night with three minutes to go in the first.
The Tigers would take their first lead of the night with 1:37 on the clock in the first after two straight baskets by senior Armonii Benjamin at 12-11before junior Ahmad Hudson got his first basket of the night to go back up 13-12. Junior Jasen Morgan would get a basket at the end of the first to put Ruston up 15-12 going into the second.
Small would get the three of the first four baskets of the second quarter to tie the game 20-20 with just over four minutes to go before the half, forcing Ruston to take its first timeout of the half. After surrendering another three to Benjamin, Ruston got three straight baskets from Hudson over the course of 90 seconds to get back up 26-23. Following two more Marksville baskets, the Tigers led 27-26 going into the halftime locker room.
Hudson would open the third quarter with made shot plus the free throw following a Marksville foul to give the Bearcats the lead back at 29-27. The ‘Cats, however, would get outscored 7-3 over the next three minutes solely by Small, who scored 17 of his 23 total points in the second half.
Hudson led everyone in scoring with 27 points, while Ford added 17. Junior Jasen Morgan added nine for Ruston.
The ‘Cats are scheduled to return to action Friday, Jan. 24, at home against Neville, though it will depend on the impending winter weather coming to North Louisiana this weekend.
