It took a fourth quarter rally for host Dowagiac to fend off Niles in non-league boys basketball Tuesday night.

The Chieftains rallied from a 15-10 first quarter deficit to lead 28-25 at the half only to lose the lead in the third quarter.

Dowagiac again rallied, this time outscoring the Vikings 18-11 in the final eight minutes to pick up an improbably 58-55 victory.

The win improved Dowagiac to 6-1 on the year, while Niles drops to x-x.

The win was improbable because Niles shot a better percentage from the field and held a commanding rebounding advantage.

But the Chieftains forced 29 turnovers while only committing 12 themselves and were 13-of-18 from the free throw line compared to 4-of-10 for the Vikings.

“They turned the ball over a lot and because we able to get them to turn it over a lot it allowed us to stick around,” Dowagiac coach Danum Hunt said. “We were able to get a few buckets off turnovers and that allowed us to stick around.

“If you look at the stat sheets I don’t know how we pulled out the win. The guys matured at little bit toward the end of the game. It was kind of helter skelter there, but when they able to calm down and see where we were going and what we needed to do they put it out at the end.”

Dowagiac scored the first two baskets of the fourth quarter to knot the score at 44-44 and took a 47-44 on a three-point play by Brandon Winchester-Jones with six minutes remaining.

Dowagiac was able to fend off Niles for the next five minutes, but Gabe Stokes hit a pair of free throws with 1:17 showing on the clock to tie the score at 53-53.

Harry Reed gave the Chieftains to lead for good with a basket with 50 seconds left and appeared to have the game sewn up when Stokes was called for a charge on the Vikings’ ensuing possession.

But a traveling call on Dowagiac with 27 seconds left gave Niles another chance to tie or win the game.

Stokes was fouled with 10.7 seconds showing on the clock, but missed the free throw. Tevin Fowlkes grabbed the rebound and was immediately fouled.

Fowlkes hit his first one, but after a Niles time out, missed the second.

Winchester-Jones grabbed the rebound and was fouled with 7.8 seconds remaining.

He made both free throws to give Dowagiac a 58-53 lead and the Chieftains allowed Niles to take the ball the length of the court and score since the Vikings were out of time outs.

“We had 15 turnovers in the first half and 29 for the game,” Niles coach Todd Pawielski said. “We just should not be turning the ball over, especially in the fashion that we do. We make some poor decisions. It is just very frustrating to watch.

“We had every opportunity to win this game and have nobody to blame but ourselves. A lot of credit goes to Dowagiac. Those kids made shots and they played hard.”

Winchester-Jones scored a game-high 25 points to lead the Chieftains, who also got 15 points from Harry Reed.

Dowagiac played without starter Keoante Blackamore, who had knee surgery over the Christmas break and will be out a few more games, and Leroy Lewis, who missed the first two and a half quarters for disciplinary reasons.

Stokes led Niles with 17 points and a game-high 16 rebounds, including 11 in the first half. Gavin Rasler scored 10 points, all in the second half.

Dowagiac heads to Edwardsburg for a key Wolverine Conference West Division contest Friday night, while the Vikings return to SMAC West action at Portage Central.

 

DOWAGIAC 58, NILES 55

Niles 55

Dontae Murphy 7, Ra’Quon Glenn 8 Gabe Stokes 17, Derek Brown 2, Adam Langmeyer 0, Jacob Hamm 5, Alex Harpenau 2, Jalen Alexander 0, Tyler Phillips 4, Gavin Rasler 10, Sammy Rodts 0. TOTALS: 25 4-10 55

Dowagiac 58

Daquan Brooks 6, Harry Reed 15, Bryce Dodd 4, Brandon Winchester-Jones 25, DeYonte Sullivan 0, Leroy Lewis 2, Josh Lamphere 0, Tevin Fowlkes 6, Adrien Bucha-Moore 0. TOTALS: 21 13-18 58

 

Niles                  15       25       44       55

Dowagiac        10       28       40       58

3-point baskets: Niles 1 (Murphy), Dowagiac 3 (Reed 2, Winchester-Jones). Total fouls (fouled out): Niles 15 (Glenn), Dowagiac 14 (none). Varsity records: Niles 2-2, Dowagiac 6-1