Although his Hornets found themselves in an unexpected hole at the break, Fulton head coach Justin Gilmore remained confident in his game plan.
After the Hannibal Pirates knocked down six of their seven 3-pointers in the first half to take a 32-25 advantage at halftime, the Hornets rebounded with a roll of their own. Fulton outscored Hannibal 24-4 in the third quarter to open up a 49-36 lead.
The Hornets carried that momentum into the final 8 minutes to pick up a 68-54 North Central Missouri Conference victory over the Pirates on Friday night at Roger D. Davis Gymnasium. Fulton (18-4, 8-1 NCMC) - which also won at Hannibal by a similar 66-54 outcome on Dec. 27 - stretched its winning streak to four games.
"They (Pirates) were hot in the first half, for sure," Gilmore said of Friday night's matchup. "They were knocking them down from deep. We didn't change up our defensive philosophy (in second half).
"We stayed the same and just told them (players) that percentages are going to play out. They aren't going to shoot like that again in the second half.'"
Gilmore was correct in his assessment. Hannibal (8-16, 3-8 NCMC) made just 2-of-12 shots in the third quarter and committed four of its 11 turnovers.
The Hornets capitalized on the Pirates' miscues and were able to put themselves in a nice groove. Fulton's guards got the ball inside to junior forward Cameron Vaughn in the quarter and he produced nine of his game-high 25 points during that span.
"We weren't attacking (the basket) too much. We shot 11 3s in the first half and two in the second - we were just settling, we were very passive," Gilmore said. "We kind of moved some pieces around, tried to get the guys who would be best to score inside, then we started attacking it.
"Once we started to score, we got some confidence."
After junior guard Makygh Galbreath sank a pair of free throws with 7:20 left in the game to give the Hornets a 51-36 edge, Fulton spread out its half-court offense and traded points with Hannibal the rest of the way.
"When we got up by 15, we made them come out and guard us," Gilmore said. "We got them out of that 2-3 zone and we felt that we had a big advantage. We were able to move it, attack it and get the matchups we wanted."
The Pirates were able to build their halftime lead by taking advantage of wide-open looks the Hornets gave them from behind the arc.
Hannibal trailed 15-10 with 7:21 left in the second quarter. The Pirates then erupted for a 16-4 run - powered by four 3-pointers - to go in front 26-19 with 2:04 to play.
"We played off of it (3-point line) for a little bit," Gilmore said. "After they knocked a couple down, we had to get out there and get a hand up. We made them prove it (hitting 3s), and they proved it in the first half."
Galbreath connected on seven of 10 free throws in providing 17 points for the Hornets, who shot 49 percent (26-of-53) from the field. Vaughn also pulled down a game-high 17 rebounds to record a double-double.
Sophomore guard Dezi Jones topped Hannibal - which shot 41 percent (22-of-54) as a team - with 12 points. Senior guard Trevor Watson and junior guard Wyatt Waelder added 10 points apiece.
Fulton (12-3) prevailed in the junior varsity game 61-53. Junior center LeCheyon Williams tallied a game-high 17 points and junior guard L'Trevion Kemp-Vaughn supplied 14.
The Hornets play their home finale against NCMC foe Moberly at 6 p.m. Tuesday. Fulton tripped the Spartans in a dramatic 42-40 victory in Moberly on Jan. 27 when senior guard Devin Masek scored on a putback as time expired.
"I'm sure it will be another grind," Gilmore said. "Moberly's really, really good. They're going to come in here and fight us all night. It will take a great effort for us to pull one off."