COLLINSVILLE – Jack Nafziger and Brennan Weller hit three straight three points shots in the fourth quarter shortly after Triad had cut a 17-point deficit to seven as Edwardsville went on to win the 11th place game of the 36th annual Collinsville Prairie Farms Holiday Classic Monday afternoon at the auxiliary gym at Vergil Fletcher Gym.
The Tigers took an early 11-2 lead at the start and parlayed that into a 31-15 advantage at halftime. After Weller hit a free throw that made it 36-19 in the third quarter, Triad went on a 16-2 run that went into the fourth period, led by Luke Cox, who’s early fourth quarter lay-in made the score 38-31 Edwardsville with 7:16 left. From there, Nafziger connected on a three, then he and Weller hit on back-to-back treys which would give the Tigers a 47-31 advantage with 5:13 left, and Edwardsville would go on from there for the win.
Weller set a new career-high for him by scoring 28 points and getting 11 rebounds, starting the game off with a personal 7-0 run. Weller was named to the all-tournament team.
Nafziger added 11 points for the Tigers, with both Preston Weaver and Nic Hemken had six each. Cox ended up with 25 points,
For the game, the Tigers shot 49 percent from the field, and also was 15-for-19 from the free-throw line, including eight-of-nine down the stretch. The Knights shot 31 percent of their field goals and had 18 turnovers.
The Knights are now 9-4 on the year, and resume Mississippi Valley Conference with a pair of home Mississippi Valley Conference games, Jan. 7 against Civic Memorial, and on Friday, Jan. 10, against Jersey, with both games set to tip at 7:30 p.m. The Tigers are now 7-5 on the year and resume the regular season on Wednesday, Jan. 8 at home against Cleveland Naval Junior ROTC and on Jan 10 against O’Fallon in a Southwestern Conference game. Tip-off times will be 7:30 p.m.
