Fulton senior forward Austin Wilson had a game-high 16 points in the Hornets' narrow 64-63 NCMC loss to the Hannibal Pirates on Tuesday night.
It's the first defeat of the season for Fulton (7-1, 3-1 North Central Missouri Conference).
"We played bad; we just didn't play well at all," Hornets head coach Ryan Shaw said. "The things we'd done well - getting to the free-throw line and making free throws - we were 4-for-16 from the line and in a one-point game, that's unacceptable."
Wilson's basket late in the fourth quarter tied the game at 63-all. Fulton senior forward Devin Gibson fouled junior forward Dylan Powell on the Pirates' next possession, which led to Powell supplying the eventual game-winning point when he hit the second of two free throws.
Wilson had two looks at a potential go-ahead shot, but each attempt was off the mark.
Hannibal (1-4, 1-3 NCMC) led the Hornets 23-12 after a quarter and pushed that advantage to 33-20 in the second. Fulton closed the half on an 8-2 run, trimming its deficit to 35-28 at halftime.
The Pirates held a 48-39 lead after the third and went in front 54-44 in the early moments of the fourth. An 8-0 Hornet run got them back to within a basket as Fulton would continually stay within reach despite Hannibal's effort to put the contest away.
"Defensively, whenever we forced turnovers, we were able to get baskets and cut the deficit," Shaw said. "We just didn't finish. There were a couple of plays down the stretch...we just didn't finish."
Gibson finished with 13 points and a team-high nine rebounds, while junior guard Kalin Mitchell posted 11 points.
The Hornets shot 46 percent (16-of-35) on from the floor and knocked down 39 percent from 3-point range (9-of-23).
Senior guard Kasen Rademan paced the Pirates with 15 points, while senior guard Mario Jones added nine points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Hannibal hit 45 percent (15-of-33) from the floor and 38 percent (6-of-16) from 3-point range.
Hannibal held a 43-33 rebounding edge, the first time Fulton has been outrebounded by an opponent this season.
The Hornets prevailed in the JV game 47-33 to improve to 3-1.
Fulton stays on the road for an NCMC game against the Boonville Pirates at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The Hornets dominated Boonville 86-69 on Dec. 16 in Fulton.