SILER CITY — Following a back-and-forth first two periods against Jordan-Matthews that ended with Chatham Central clinging to a one-point advantage at intermission, the Bears relinquished the lead only once the entire second half and put the game away by converting 14-of-16 free throws in the fourth quarter to claim a 57-45 non-conference victory over the Jets Wednesday evening on John Phillips Court.
Winning its season-opener, Chatham Central defeated its arch rival for only the fourth time in their last 25 meetings, while J-M stumbled to 1-1 for the year.
Michael Moore poured in 27 points and Preston Cox came off the bench to contribute 16 points for the victors, who shot 39 percent (15-of-38) from the floor and commanded a 32-20 advantage on the glass while committing 17 turnovers.
Camden Fuquay was the lone Jordan-Matthews’ player to finish in double figures with 11 points as the Jets connected on 38 percent (19-of-50) of their field goal attempts while turning the ball over 14 times.
“We played smart, disciplined basketball,” said Bears’ coach Robert Burke. “We looked for open shots and got them, while we had great support from our bench. Defensively we switched between man-to-man and zone depending upon J-M’s personnel on the court, and drawing five charges was huge. Hitting a high percentage of our free throws was a key factor tonight, especially in the fourth quarter.”
Altogether Chatham Central converted 23-of-29 attempts from the foul line, whereas Jordan-Matthews was two-of-eight from the charity stripe.
Jets’ coach Rodney Wiley related excessive fouling, a lack of rebounding and poor shooting all played a part in his team’s setback.
“We put Chatham Central at the free throw line too many times tonight and they managed to make the most of it, while they did a good job boxing out and controlling the boards,” Wiley said. “Their size in the middle hurt us and they kept their hands up, which forced us to settle for a lot of outside shots. We didn’t shoot well from three-point range or close-in, as we missed a bunch of point-blank attempts.”
Neither team could establish more than a four-point advantage in the first eight minutes of play, which concluded with J-M holding a 14-11 lead.
Jordan-Matthews forged its biggest advantage at 19-11 following Huston Causey’s trey from the left wing with 6:42 remaining in the second quarter before Moore and Cox combined to tally all of the Bears’ points in the stanza as Chatham Central rallied to close out the period with a 12-3 run to ease in front by one at the break.
The Bears built a six-point lead twice late in the third quarter prior to another Causey three-pointer with six seconds left that trimmed the gap to 35-32 heading into the final eight minutes.
The Jets seized their only advantage of the second half at 36-35 on Lance Hedgepeth’s layup with 7:20 to go in the contest before a pair of Cox charity tosses 28 seconds later gave Chatham Central the lead for good and put the Bears in the double-bonus situation.
The winners then proceeded to expand their advantage from the foul line down the stretch and eventually constructed their largest lead of the night when two more Cox free throws with four seconds remaining resulted in the final margin.