By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com
Mount Pleasant — Two big technical foul calls turned close games into multi-possession leads for Ottumwa, as the Mount Pleasant boys’ basketball team fell to the Bulldogs last night 58-47 in a nonconference matchup at Mount Pleasant High School.
Late in the fourth quarter with Ottumwa leading 46-44, the Panthers were whistled for a technical that strung the game to 48-44 on the free throws and 50-44 on the ensuing offensive possession.
That hole was too big to dig out of for Eric Rawson’s group.
The Panthers rallied back from a 15-point halftime deficit, cutting the lead to three at the end of the third quarter largely behind the strong play of Chase Williamson, Dewon Trent and Owen Van Sickel.
Williamson led Mount Pleasant with 16 points, hitting 3-of-4 shots from three.
Trent, who was held to two points in the first half, finished with 13 to go along with eight rebounds. Van Sickel finished with 11, canning 3-of-7 three point shots.
Ottumwa’s Trae Swartz led all scorers, pouring in 21 points along with five rebounds while drilling two triples.
Joe Hammer added 16 for the Bulldogs, icing the game at the foul line by hitting 9-of-10 from the charity stripe.
The loss moved Mount Pleasant to 11-8, Ottumwa improved to 11-5.
Originally scheduled to makeup their postponed game with Burlington tonight, the Panthers will now be off due to a shortage of officials.
No date has been picked for that game to be made up a third time.