Union will try to salvage seventh place from the Rolla Tournament Friday afternoon.
The Wildcats (2-10) face Newburg at 5 p.m. Friday in the seventh-place game following a 73-49 loss to Blair Oaks Thursday.
“We actually played well in the first half and it was a one-point game at halftime,” Union Head Coach Chris Simmons said. “It continued into the third quarter. The score was not indicative of how we played for three quarters.”
Simmons indicated things changed at the start of the fourth quarter.
“At the start of the fourth, we were down six and we began get timid and passive, which resulted in turnovers and easy buckets for them,” Simmons said. “It went downhill fast from there.”
With more big games coming up, starting with a game against Lutheran South Tuesday in the opening round of the Union Tournament (6 p.m.), Simmons knows the team needs to improve quickly.
“We have to get better at overcoming tough circumstances as a team,” Simmons said. “Lutheran South is a good team so we will get prepared for them and give them our best shot.”
Some players stepped up.
“Ashton Dehn really played well for us tonight as he led us in scoring with 12 and really played a role in our success,” Simmons said. “Nick (Ziegler) played well in the first half as he had 11 points, but then they kind of keyed in on him and took him away in the second.”
Simmons indicated Union’s tall players got into foul trouble.
“We rebounded better, but we got in foul trouble early with both our bigs, (Brandon) Ford and (Brian) Borgmann, getting two early fouls.”
