The LMS Tigers (4-4) came out on the short end of a back and forth battle in Lewisburg Monday night, losing 42-35 to Whitthorne.

Even though the Tigers jumped out to an early 5-0 lead, LMS head coach David Lovell was not happy with the ball club's intensity in the first half.

"We started slow because we did not come ready to play; we played with no heart or energy the first half," said Lovell.

Free shots

After trailing 5-3 at the end of the first period, Whitthorne stormed back, chalking up an 8-0 run on LMS with most of the damage coming from the free throw line.

Kenyote Davis, Kris Armstrong and Donadray McClain all made two charity shots in the spurt and McClain added a field goal for Whitthorne, who opened up an 11-5 lead.

Caleb Fields, who led all scorers in the contest with 19 points, scored for the Tigers with 1:26 remaining in the first half to bust the drought before adding another field goal moments later, cutting the visitors' lead to 11-7.

A Drew Williamson rebound and put-back for Whitthorne made it a 15-9 ballgame at the half.

LMS run

Whitthorne would maintain the same margin until LMS made their run with the score 19-13 and just under three minutes to go in the third period.

KJ Johnson lit the comeback fuse for the Tigers, burying a three-pointer and two touches later, Fields nailed two free throws to make it a one-point game at 19-18.

"At the half, I told the team that we had to fully commit ourselves one hundred percent to playing basketball and go all out," said Lovell. "I was happy that we came out the second half with energy and that we made the effort to compete."

After the squads traded baskets, Johnson came up huge, floating a basket over Davis to put the hometown Tigers in the lead at 23-22, but it was short-lived as Williamson and Davis netted buckets in the waning seconds of the period to give Whitthorne a 26-23 lead, entering the final six minutes of action in Lewisburg.

Pair of 3s

Fields answered the call in a big way, draining a pair of three-bombs that put LMS in front 29-26.

After a Whitthorne miscue, LMS had a chance to extend the lead, but missed a one and one opportunity at the free throw line and the Columbia squad made the home team pay as Williamson and Davis converted buckets in the paint on consecutive possessions to put LMS down by a single point at 30-29.

The Whitthorne pair would team up again for another four points as LMS fell further behind at 34-29.

One Fields free throw narrowed the margin slightly, but a Whitthorne missed shot gave the ball back to LMS and Fields delivered with a driving layup, making it a two-point game at 34-32 with 35.5 seconds remaining in the contest.

Within a point

Armstrong hit two charity shots at the other end before Johnson went downtown from the corner, slicing the Whitthorne lead to a single digit at 36-35 with 23 ticks left.

That would be as close as LMS would get as Whitthorne went on a 5-0 run to end the contest.

Johnson (three treys) ended up with 13 points for LMS and Wesley Walker added a three-pointer.

Davis had 14 points for Whitthorne, Armstrong added 13, Williamson netted eight, McClain had four and Tucker Scott added a deuce.

Whitthorne shot a nifty 15-18 from the free throw line in the contest, while LMS went 5-13.

"The free throw shooting was the difference in the game with them going 15-18 and us 5-13," said Lovell. "We just have to keep our heads up, keep believing in ourselves, and keep working to get better. If we can do that, I believe that good things will happen."