Hornets dig down on defense, stay unbeaten

Fulton controls third quarter in 78-67 victory at Kirksville

The Fulton Hornets had to change their defensive mindset to keep their perfect record intact.

Fulton broke a 37-all halftime tie by outscoring Kirksville 20-8 in the third quarter, launching the undefeated Hornets to a 78-67 North Central Missouri Conference win over the Tigers on Friday night.

"We weren't very happy with our defense in the first half," Fulton head coach Ryan Shaw said. "We weren't very good at guarding and Kirksville was getting a lot of layups.

"We came out refocused in the third quarter with our help-side defense, and that was the difference in the game. We were communicating and we were more active, getting to the spots where we needed to be."

Senior guard Ricky Dawson dropped in a game-high 25 points to direct four players in double figures for the Hornets (7-0, 3-0 NCMC), wh0 shot 50 percent (28-of-56) as a team. Dawson also handed out a game-high six assists and made both of his 3-point attempts as Fulton shot 46 percent (6-of-13) from behind the arc.

Senior forward Austin Wilson - who was 2-of-3 from 3-point range - provided 16 points for Fulton, while junior guard Kalin Mitchell had 12 and contributed the Hornets' other two 3-pointers. Senior forward Devin Gibson added 10 points.

Senior forward Sam Christensen also scored eight points and collected a team-high 11 rebounds to power Fulton to a resounding 46-27 advantage on the boards.

"We were able to get to the basket," Shaw said. "(Kirksville) played a lot of zone and we were able to attack it. We didn't have as many transition baskets as we normally do, but we scored a bundle of points in the halfcourt."

Dallin Vorkink's 19 points topped four players in double figures for Kirksville. Landon Motley was next with 16 points, Chance Edwards finished with 13 and Michael Chrisman had 11. The Tigers shot a feeble 33 percent (21-of-62) from the field, including a dreadful 19 percent (3-of-16) from 3-point range.

Shaw, meanwhile, is taking an undefeated team into the Christmas break for the first time in his 21 years as a head coach. The Hornets return for an NCMC contest at Hannibal at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 30.

"I'm really excited to see what we can do," Shaw said.