Meigs offense proves too much for the Bulldogs
By: Sam Nolan
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB)- The Athens Bulldogs hosted the 10-2 Meigs Marauders in a TVC-Ohio matchup Tuesday night.
The Bulldogs played a hard fought game, but Meigs’ fast paced offense was too much for them to handle. The Marauders took over in the second half, leading to a 59-46 win.
The game started off scrappy, with both teams turning the ball over. This kept Athens close, and Meigs was getting frustrated quickly.
Five different players recorded a turnover for the Marauders in the first half. Athens was also playing aggressively.
This put the Bulldogs in foul trouble fast, with five fouls in the first four minutes.
At the end of the 2nd half, Meigs’ Cayden Gheen dialed up a pair of threes.
This gave the Marauders the spark they needed, heading into the half up 25-16.
This 12-2 run before halftime proved to be pivotal to them coming out on top.
Meigs picked up right where they left off, opening the 2nd half with a 12-4 run that forced Athens to play catch up the remainder of the game.
The Marauders were dominant in transition, and the Bulldogs had no answer defensively. Fast tempo was key all game for Meigs, which wore Athens down.
Meigs went into the 4th quarter up 44-29.
Offense was not much of an issue for the Bulldogs tonight, defense, however is what ended up losing them this game.
Athens couldn’t stop the one-two punch of Cayden Gheen and Reed Brinegar. Brinegar was a fast break machine, making six shots from close range and Gheen went 4-5 from behind the arc.
The duo combined for an impressive 31 of their squad’s 59 points.
A bright spot for the Bulldogs on Tuesday was sophomore center Zach Mullins putting up 11 points and eight rebounds, a near double-double for the young player.
Athens also outrebounded Meigs 22-11, something the Bulldogs didn’t capitalize on nearly enough.
Athens travels to McArthur on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. for a duel with the leaders of the TVC-Ohio, Vinton County. As for Meigs, they host the Nelsonville-York Buckeyes on Friday at 7:30 p.m.