SPRINGFIELD— The Waynesville Tigers overcame an early 11-point deficit to come back and defeat the Springfield Glendale Falcons 63-62 in an Ozark Conference game Monday at Glendale High School.
Waynesville forward Kevin Vereen, a 6-3 senior, led Waynesville with 25 points and sank six foul shots in the final 1:30 to help the Tigers hold onto their lead.
The Tigers were up 61-57 with 23 seconds remaining following two made foul shots from junior forward Adam Grosskreutz, but 5-10 Glendale sophomore guard Blake Freedman drained a three-pointer with 12.3 seconds left to cut the lead to 61-60.
The Tigers found Vereen, who was fouled almost immediately. He made both of his foul shots to make it 63-60 Waynesville with 10.4 seconds left.
Glendale got the ball back with a chance to tie and send the game to overtime, but Joey Harbour missed a three point shot. The ball went off a Tiger with 1.2 seconds left and Glendale had one last chance to tie. The Falcons got the ball inbounds but could only make a two as the buzzer sounded, ending the game at 63-62.
Cameron Johnson led Glendale with 25 points while Harbour scored 16 and Freedman added eight.
Vereen led the Tigers with 25 and senior guard Robert Wages was the other Tiger in double figures with 13 points. Grosskreutz scored four.
The win evens Waynesville’s record at 9-9 and gives them a 3-1 Ozark Conference record. Glendale falls to 13-6 and 2-1 in conference play.
Waynesville will take a trip to Union tonight before another important Ozark Conference game Friday.
They host Joplin at 6 p.m. Friday. At press time Monday, the Eagles were 15-3 overall and 3-0 in the league.
