The Mexico Bulldogs didn't waste the extra time on Tuesday night. The Class 4 No. 7 Bulldogs defeated Class 2 No. 3 Eugene 82-77 in overtime to go to 3-0 in three years in overtime games and hand the Eagles (8-1) their first loss of the season.
Mexico (9-1) trailed 50-41 after the third quarter and were down by as much as 11 points before it applied its full-court press from that point on. The Bulldogs equaled the 41 points they scored in the first 24 minutes of basketball with their output in the 12 minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime period. They had less than a handful of steals when they trailed 35-28 at halftime but eventually finished with 12 steals, with six players coming away with at least one.
"It was a do-or-die situation," head coach Darren Pappas said. "They were on a run. We've got to go to it. Luckily, coach (Dion "Bosco") Nunnelly calls all the defense, and he decided we have to do something to generate some type of energy. We started putting a little pressure on them and making them turn it over."
DJ Long led with four steals and was the floor's leading scorer with 26 points (8-13 on free throws), Jaydon Eldridge finished with 16 points (11 points in fourth quarter) and two steals, Charlie Fisher had 16 points and four 3-pointers, PJ Perkins had 12 points and seven rebnounds, and Kaden Benne ended up with game-winning 3-pointer to make it 80-77 in overtime and had eight points. Isaac Busch led Eugene with 22 points, Ethan Wunderlich had 15 points, Justice Allen had 14 points and Ryan Lepper had 13 points.
Mexico plays Dec. 27-29 in the US Bank Holiday Invitational in Rolla, with its next game at 2:30 p.m. on Dec. 27 against Hazelwood West at Missouri S&T.
Look for the full story in the Saturday, Dec. 23, 2023, edition of the Mexico Ledger.
