In a mostly back-and-forth game, Athens trailed at halftime by five. Heading into the fourth quarter, they trailed by 11.
Off the bench came senior Brody Ball, who sparked a run for the Bulldogs that brought them back into the game. Two 3-pointers and a transition layup and-one from Ball brought Athens within four points of Meigs.
But even Ball's contributions weren't enough, as that four point deficit was as close as the Bulldogs would get in the second half, as they couldn’t continue the run that Ball sparked, eventually losing the game 60-49 Saturday night.
“The thing about Brody is he’s going to play hard,” coach Mickey Cozart said. “He’s going to give you everything he has.”
Meigs had 20 defensive rebounds while Athens only grabbed nine. On a night when Athens didn’t shoot as well as it has over its four-game winning streak, Meigs gained a clear advantage.
“I don’t know what the stats are, but I felt like it was pretty lopsided on the rebounding,” Cozart said.
The Bulldogs only shot 37 percent from the field, but while over their four game win-streak, they averaged 49.5 percent.
“We have to make shots, and we didn’t make shots tonight,” Cozart said. “We’ve been shooting the ball really well, and we did not do that tonight.”
With only one Tri-Valley Conference Ohio division game left, the loss to Meigs will prevent Athens from reaching its goal of winning the conference.
Athens will next play out-of-conference opponent Morgan on Tuesday night.
