Big 3rd quarter propels Bluff

JACKSON, Mo. — It took Poplar Bluff a half to get going.

Once the Mules did, Jackson had no answer.

Poplar Bluff opened the third quarter by scoring 24 of the first 25 points and rode that offensive explosion to a 74-57 win over SEMO Conference rival Jackson on Tuesday at Jackson High School.

It’s the Mules’ second win over Jackson this season.

Tyler Cline poured in a game-high 25 points, including 23 in the second half, and Carlton McDonald added 17 points.

“We settled in,” Poplar Bluff coach Will Durden said. “I thought the first half, we had a lot of turnovers. A lot of it was because of Jackson, but we were really careless with the ball. I thought the third quarter, we settled in and made plays. That’s kind of the story of the game. We made plays during that third quarter stretch.”

Poplar Bluff (12-2, 1-0 SEMO Conference) entered halftime down 28-26. When the third quarter ended, the Mules led 50-33.

It started seconds into the third quarter. On the first possession of the period, McDonald hit a jumper to tie the game at 28. That was the start of a 24-1 run that completely changed the balance of the game.

Cline led the charge with 11 points in that quarter on 4-for-4 shooting. He made 8 of 9 shots in the final two quarters, including 6 of 7 3-pointers.

“He’s one of those guys that he makes a couple, he may make a run of five,” Durden said. “If he misses a couple, he may miss five. That quarter he shot it well. At the end of the day with him, he’s our best on-the-ball defender and our hardest worker, so anything he gives to us on offense is just icing on the cake.”

By contract, Jackson (12-4, 2-1) couldn’t buy a bucket. The Indians were 2 of 12 from the field in the third quarter and 0 of 8 on 3s, missing several open looks.

“We still played pretty good defense,” Durden said. “I just thought we made them uncomfortable.”

The fourth quarter was a formality with Jackson not getting closer than 14 points.

By the time Cline fouled out with 56 seconds remaining, the result was no longer in doubt. His work was done.

Before the clock even started, Poplar Bluff led. Thanks to a pregame technical foul on Jackson for a dunk in warmups, Poplar Bluff got two free throws to start the game and the ball.

Xander Martin hit one of the two free throws, but Jackson got a defensive stop. Dalton Tollison then scored in the post to give the Indians the early 2-1 lead.

It was the first of three lead changes in the opening minutes. Consecutive 3-pointers from Colten Seyer and Luke Reynolds gave Jackson an 8-3 lead with 5:20 remaining in the quarter. By the end of the period, Jackson led 15-11.

Tollison opened the second quarter with a bucket to give Jackson a 17-11 lead, tied for its largest of the first half.

Poplar Bluff respond with a 7-0 run to take an 18-7 lead with 4:58 remaining in the quarter. It was back and forth for the rest of the half with Jackson ending the half on a 7-2 spurt to take a 28-26 lead into the locker room.

Then the Mules came out energized in the third and blew past the Indians.

Dominique Hardimon added 12 points and a game-high eight rebounds and five assist for Poplar Bluff.

Tollison and Reynolds had 17 points apiece to pace Jackson.