The finish was much better than the start Friday for the Brandywine boys’ basketball team in its 52-41 Lakeland Conference win over Cassopolis.

The Bobcats, who trailed 14-1 in the first quarter, finished the game on a 15-3 run.

“We’re doing a lot better job defensively this year,” said Bobcats coach Nathan Knapp, whose team improved to 2-0. “The kids are understanding the defense a little bit more and the help-side principles. We’re also getting after it (on defense) and it’s paying dividends. We’re contesting every shot.”

Cassopolis missed 14 of its 16 shots in the fourth quarter and for the game shot only 32-percent (19-of-59) from the field.

Mykal Toxopeus’ two free throws gave the Bobcats the lead for good at 39-38 with 6:07 remaining in the game.

Four points off a Cassopolis bench technical extended Brandywine’s lead to 50-41 with 1:40 left in the game. Alex Erwin hit the two technical free throws and added a rebounded basket for the opportunistic Bobcats.

Cassopolis coach James Moore was asked if the technical changed the momentum in the game.

“The game was going to finish up the way it did anyway,” said Moore, whose team fell to 0-2. “That didn’t impact the momentum. It was a physical game throughout and all of a sudden their was a trigger switch and a couple of touch fouls were called. But we got to fight through those things.”

Erwin scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds for Brandywine. Teammate Evan Hartman added 11 points and 15 rebounds off the bench.

Hartman scored nine of his points in the second quarter. His basket off an alley-oop pass from Michael Shelton gave the Bobcats a 26-20 lead with 18 seconds left in the second quarter.

Brandywine regrouped after missing its first nine shots of the game.

“We came out with great intentions, but things didn’t go our way,” Knapp said. “Cass did a great job of attacking us. We got the looks and missed and then we started to turn the ball over and second guess ourselves. We were down 14-1 and we tried to keep the kids calm and encourage them to keep fighting. We had a big advantage inside and, unfortunately, Cass had its big guy twist his knee. We went inside and attacked.”

Cassopolis 6-foot-5 center Quinten O’Brie suffered a leg injury after scoring with 4:02 left in the first. He came back into the game, but didn’t stay on the court.

Without O’Brie, the Rangers had a hard time containing the 6-foot-6 duo of Erwin and Hartman.

“My legit (center) was out for the rest of the game,” Moore said. “He hurt his knee and we’ve got to get it checked out. When he left the game that left us undersized. He was working hard and playing physical with their big guys.”

Ken Carson came off the bench to lead Cassopolis with 13 points. Carson scored six points in the first quarter.

Toxopeus totaled nine points and Courtlan Gordon had eight off the bench for Brandwyine. Gordon’s six second quarter points sparked the Bobcats.

“(Gordon) was a big key for us,” Knapp said. “He had a lot of hustle points and he played great defense.”

Brandywine won despite shooting only 13-of-31 from the free throw line.

“That’s not going to win you games,” Knapp said about his team’s free throw shooting.

CASSOPOLIS 41

Taylor Baker 1 0-0 2, Lynell Ballard 2 1-2 5, Quinten O’Brie 1 0-0 2, Tyler Gilliam 3 0-0 6, Mitchell Moore 2 0-0 4, Vashaun Morgan 3 0-2 7, Ken Carson 6 1-2 13, Ryan Hawkins 0 0-1 0, William Wallace 0 0-0 0, Justin Smith 0 0-0 0, Vinny Sopaseuth 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 19 2-7 41

BRANDYWINE 52

Michael Shelton 1 1-5 3, Mykal Toxopeus 3 3-4 9, Alex Erwin 3 6-8 12, Michael Schoenleber 2 0-0 5, Austin Searles 1 2-4 4, Evan Hartman 5 1-8 11, Courtlan Gordon 4 0-2 8, Brian Kline 0 0-0 0, Alex Ulrickson 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 19 13-31 52

Cassopolis 14 20 34 41

Brandywine 6 26 35 52

3-point goals: Cassopolis 1 (Morgan), Brandywine 1 (Schoenleber). Total fouls (fouled out): Cassopolis 23 (none), Brandywine 12 (none). Technicals: Cassopolis (bench), Brandywine (Searles). Brandywine 14. Varsity records: Cassopolis 0-2 overall (0-1 Lakeland Conference), Brandywine 2-0 overall (1-0 Lakeland Conference)