By By SCOTT NOVAK / Dowagiac Daily News
ST. JOSEPH - Visiting Dowagiac did not have a very good outing Tuesday night against the host Bears in freshmen and junior varsity basketball.
The Chieftain freshmen dropped a 55-55 decision to St. Joseph, while the JV fell to the Bears, 56-37, in a Big 16 Conference West Division clash.
The freshmen trailed 19-3 after one period of play and 23-9 at halftime.
St. Joseph outscored Dowagiac 32-15 in the second half.
Jake Cox and Jacob Kling led Dowagiac with eight points each. Reggie Fritz added four points.
The junior varsity squad trailed 20-11 after one period of play and 30-20 at the intermission.
Dowagiac (4-10) was outscored 22-7 in the third quarter as the Bears broke the close game open.
Dowagiac did outscore St. Joseph 10-4 in the final eight minutes.
Andrew Cuthbert scored seven points to lead the Chieftains, who also got six points from both D.J. Edgerly and Freddie Soto.
Nick File finished with five points.
Dowagiac returns to action on Friday when it hosts arch rival Niles. The freshman game tips off at 4:15 p.m.