Too many turnovers led to too many easy baskets for visiting Benton Harbor Friday night as the Tigers handed the Niles boys’ basketball team its first loss of the season.

“We had too many turnovers that led to baskets in transition,” Niles coach Todd Pawielski said. “They scored like 24 points off our turnovers tonight. When we did get  a shot we were one and done most of the second half.”

The game started out extremely close with both teams trying to take control of the contest.

Niles used a 3-pointer by Taylor Campbell toward the end of the opening quarter to take a 14-11 lead.

Benton Harbor would get the better of the Vikings in the second quarter by scoring the first 13 points, but would ended up with only a 28-25 halftime advantage.

The Tigers led by 11 points with 2:49 to play on a 3-pointer by Alex Williams.

But Niles would come right back and cut the lead to 25-22 on a 3-pointer by Austin Parks with 46.6 showing on the first half clock.

Pawielski was whistled for a technical foul with 17 seconds remaining, but the Tigers converted just one of two foul shots and did not score on the ensuing inbounds play.

Niles was able to get the ball quickly up the court and Parks hit another 3-pointer as time expired to cut the advantage to just three points.

The third quarter was a see-saw affair with neither team able to open up much of an advantage until the Tigers went on a late run to take a 46-41 lead to the final quarter.

It was all Benton Harbor in the fourth quarter as the Tigers rolled off the first 14 points and held Niles to just three points for the  entire quarter.

“I give Benton Harbor credit for hitting its shots, but we are not going to beat anyone turning the ball over the way we did,” Pawielski said.

Williams, who had seven 3-pointers in the game, led the Tigers and all scorers with 27 points. Donshay Jones added 14.

Parks finished with 17 points, while Myles Busby added 15 and 10 rebounds.

BENTON HARBOR 65

Deontae Whitfield 3 3-5 9; Donshay Jones 5 3-4 14; Roy Napier 0 0-0 0; Matthew Thomas 0 0-0 0; C. Miles 0 0-0 0; Melvin Armstrong 3 0-1 6; Raheem Franklin 0 0-2 0; Alex Williams 9 2-3 27; Andrew Ellis 4 1-4 9;  Tyrone Rolf 0 0-0 0; Garrett Spencer 0 0-0 0; Michael Dyson 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 24 9-17 65

NILES 44

Myles Busby 5 5-5 15; Austin Parks 5 3-5 17; Logan Harpenau 0 0-0 0; Rily Robson 0 0-0 0; Zak Prenkert 2 0-0 4; Nick Lucero 0 0-0 0; Jordan Potthoff 0 0-0 0; Taylor Campbell 3 0-0 8; Quintin Irby 0 0-2 0; Brandon Partee 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 15 8-12 44

Benton Harbor 11 28 46 65

Niles 14 25 41 44

3-point baskets: Benton Harbor 8 (Jones, Williams 7), Niles 6 (Parks 4, Campbell 2). Total fouls: Benton Harbor 11, Niles 17. Fouled out: None. Technical fouls: Niles bench. Varsity record: Niles 8-1; Benton Harbor 10-3