Something just didn’t click for Pineville in the second half of their Thursday match-up with Oneida Baptist Institute. After trailing by five heading into the half, the Mountain Lions went cold while the Mountaineers found their stride in transition on their way to an 83-64 victory.

“OBI, I thought they got some momentum in the second half. They got behind our defense a few times,” said Pineville coach JD Strange. “Once they got their momentum — plus they continued hitting some more threes — they hit a run there where things were going good for them, and we couldn’t capitalize on some easy buckets that could have kept us in contention at that time.

“It seemed like it didn’t matter what we played tonight, of course when a team is putting the ball in the basket it makes any defense look bad. (OBI) was shooting well and then when we tried to get out on them they were quick enough to get by us, so we didn’t do a good job or rotating with our primary and secondary help. I give OBI a lot of credit.”

The Mountaineers combined to outscore Pineville in the third and fourth quarters 46-32 with many baskets coming off turnovers or in transition. By the time the Mountain Lions found momentum in the fourth, the lead was to large to overcome.

Despite the loss, Pineville wasn’t bad in the shooting category hitting 45.5 percent of their shots from the field. They went 38.9 percent from three-point range. They were paced by Ben Goodin’s 20 points.

Josh Lawson added 15 points while shooting a team-best 66.7 percent from the field. Hayden Callebs and Braxton Caldwell both chipped in seven points apiece.

Darrin Callaway led OBI with a game-high 26 points on 10 field goals. Elijah Woods tallied 15 points on the night, and Jonah Hinkle ended the night with 12 points on four 3-pointers.

After drawing even at 13-13 at the end of the first, Pineville and OBI battled back and forth throughout the second. A 3-pointer by Jindu Onouha gave the Mountaineers a 37-32 lead going into halftime.

OBI seized control of the game in the third quarter outscoring the Lions 19-8. After swapping baskets early, the Mountaineers went on a 9-0 run with 3-pointers from Hinkle, Callaway and Sochi Onouha to claim a 48-34 lead.

A floater by Lawson cut the lead temporarily before consecutive baskets from Hinkle and Sochi Onouha increased the OBI lead to 50-38 with a little under 2:30 to go in the period.

Lawson hit another floater to cut the deficit to 10, but the Mountaineers ended the frame on an 8-0 run with Woods hitting a layup seconds before the buzzer to give OBI a 56-40 lead heading into the final quarter.

The pace of the game increased in the fourth with both teams putting up points. The Mountaineers increased their lead to as much as 25 twice in the frame. An and-1 from Callaway with 6:38 left gave OBI a 66-41 lead.

Later in the quarter, back-to-back baskets from Callaway and Tyler Preston grew the lead to 73-48 with over three minutes to play. In the end, OBI outscored the Lions 27-24 in the fourth to claim the 19-point victory.

Up Next

Pineville (4-17) returns to action on Tuesday when they travel down U.S. 25E to square off against Middlesboro (10-12) at 7 p.m.

OBI (9-9) will travel to Red Bird (7-14) on Saturday.

———

Oneida Baptist 83, Pineville 64

ONEIDA BAPTIST (9-9)

Darrin Callaway 10 3-3 26, Clay Hambry 2 0-0 5, Jindu Onouha 2 2-2 7, Tyler Preston 2 0-0 5, Elijah Woods 6 1-2 15, Sochi Onouha 4 0-0 10, Teni Onitiri 0 1-2 1, Nathan Choe 1 0-0 2, Jonah Hinkle 4 0-0 12. Totals: 31 7-9 83.

PINEVILLE (4-17)

Clay Goodin 1 0-0 2, Josh Lawson 6 1-1 15, Braxton Caldwell 3 0-0 7, Ben Goodin 8 4-5 20, Landon Couch 1 2-3 4, Hayden Callebs 3 0-0 7, Reed Baker 1 0-0 3, Marcus Estep 2 0-0 6. Totals: 25 7-9 64.

Oneida Baptist 13 24 19 27 — 83

Pineville 13 19 8 24 — 64

3-point goals: Oneida Baptist 15 (Callaway 4, Hambry 1, J. Onouha 1, Preston 1, Woods 3, S. Onouha 2, Hinkle 3). Pineville 7 (Estep 2, Lawson 2, Callebs 1, Caldwell 1, Baker 1).

Reach Anthony Cloud at 606-302-9090 or on Twitter @AnthonyCloudMDN