Leading by eight with a little over three minutes to play Saturday in the Mules Booster Club Shootout, the Poplar Bluff boys basketball team took its collective foot off the gas.
Vianney scored 11 straight points to pull ahead and sank enough free throws in the final seconds to secure a 66-60 win over the Mules.
"They pressured us a little more than what they had all game and we, instead of going toward the basket and attacking, we went the other way and turned the ball over," Mules coach William Durden said.
The Mules (4-3) turned the ball over in consecutive possessions and had a shot blocked as Vianney (5-3) rallied.
Colin Braun, who scored a game-high 22 points, hit a leaning shot in the paint as he was fouled for a three-point play.
Josh Kleinheider got a steal as the Griffins pressed and scored, then tied the game as he was fouled after Braun's block on the other end. Kleinheider, who scored all but two of his 15 points in the fourth quarter, missed a go-ahead free throw for the three-point play with 1:38 remaining but the 6-foot-7 Braun came away with the rebound and found Kleinheider for a 3 and the lead.
Rodney Houston's layin following a loose-ball steal and pass ahead by Xander Martin got the Mules within a point with 1:15 left. Poplar Bluff came down with a missed shot and in transition, junior Tyler Cline, who already sank five 3-pointers, spotted up for another in the corner but missed.
Kleinheider sank two free throws and scored in transition after Martin missed a 3. Houston quickly answered but Kleinheider sank two more free throws with 16 seconds remaining for a 65-60 lead.
"It happened to us in the Cape game; we're trying not to lose instead of trying to win," Durden said of a 46-41 loss to Cape Central. "We're going to have to figure out a way to keep attacking and be smart about it moving forward because we're not very good at stalling."
Poplar Bluff fell to 2-2 in games decided by single digits.
Neither team led by more than eight at any point.
Cline scored a career-best 17 points in hitting 5 of 10 shots from 3-point range. Dominique Hardimon added 16 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Houston scored 14, eight in the second quarter.
Braun scored 11 first-quarter points as Vianney took an 18-17 lead into the second.
Houston put the Mules in front with a drive and nearly two scoreless minutes later, Cline sank a 3, got a steal and knocked down another 3 for a 25-18 lead. Cline's previous career-high was 11 against Dexter as a freshman.
Vianney got within a basket with a 7-2 run but the Mules took a 31-27 lead into halftime.
"Honestly, throughout the game I thought we played a great 3 1/2 quarters," Durden said. "We got the lead and we tightened up. We were playing loose there before and we just tightened up and started turning the ball over."
An 8-2 run to end the third quarter put the Mules ahead 46-39. It started with a 3 by Martin, who later hit a reverse layin then got a steal to set up Cline's layin.
Cline's corner 3 pushed the lead to eight but C.J. Paul answered with a 3. Nik Rowland broke Vianney's press but a pair of turnovers kept the Mules from extending their lead. Hardimon's three-point play at the 3:27 mark gave Poplar Bluff a 56-48 advantage but it didn't last long.
"We were just trying to spread the floor so we could get wider driving angles," Durden said. "Doing that, we turned the ball over."
The Mules travel Wednesday to Waynesville, Missouri to play Hazelwood Central, 6-0 and ranked No. 5 in Class 5.