It’s been a tough week for the Howard boys’ basketball team. In the past seven days, the Hustlin’ Tigers have lost three straight district games by a combined seven points, including back-to-back one-point losses.
That made Friday night’s 41-36 win at home on senior night against District 6-AA leader Tyner even sweeter. Despite shooting just 28 percent from the floor – including 2-of-19 from beyond the arc – the Tigers dominated on the defensive end of the floor and controlled the glass to pull off the gritty victory.
“We told our guys, you have to want to play defense, and they played a heck of a defensive game,” said Howard coach James Talley. “This game showed us that we don’t always have to play run-and-gun; we can play multiple styles. I can’t say enough about these seniors, who have stayed together and rebuilt this program.”
After a slow start against Red Bank on Thursday night that led to Howard (18-6, 9-4) falling just short in an 80-75 loss, Talley told his team before the game that they had to come out with more intensity. The Tigers responded by holding Tyner (17-5, 10-2) to six points in each of the first two quarters and led by 10 at halftime.
As bad as Howard’s shooting was, Tyner shot the ball even worse in the first half. The Rams were just 19 percent from the floor and had twice as many turnovers (eight) as field goals (four).