Fulton head coach Justin Gilmore couldn't have been more satisfied with his Hornets' suppressive ways on defense.
Fulton swarmed Owensville from start to finish, forcing the Dutchmen to shoot a dreadful 28 percent (13-of-47), as the Hornets came away with a convincing 59-37 non-conference romp at a packed Roger D. Davis Gymnasium on Friday night.
Fulton (10-3) has now won three in a row and eight of its last 10.
"We were definitely trying to extend them farther out from the basket as we could and push them out that way," Gilmore said. "As good as our on-ball pressure was, our backside help was just as good. We made them have to shoot over our defense tonight."
The Hornets were in front 13-8 lead after the first quarter and traded baskets with Owensville (5-9) for most of the second quarter, maintaining a 22-18 advantage with 3 minutes, 27 seconds left in the first half. Fulton then benefitted from Dutchmen turnovers on three consecutive possessions as they closed with a 7-0 run and took a 29-18 edge into halftime.
"We didn't have the lead as big as we wanted, but we were doing a lot of good things," Gilmore said. "We were playing good defense. Offensively, we weren't turning the ball over. We only missed a few layups and that happens.
"We weren't taking bad shots - I told them to just keep doing the same thing, it's there."
Fulton continued to attack the rim and started to dominate the game in the third quarter.
After Owensville pulled within 29-22 with 6:54 to go in the quarter, the Hornets went on a massive 16-2 run - fueled by five layups from junior guard Makygh Galbreath - to push their lead to 45-24 with :53 remaining. The Dutchmen missed all seven of their shots and committed four of their 14 turnovers during Fulton's binge.
"That stretch all started defensively and we got a bunch of steals," Gilmore said. "Makygh made a bunch of layups in a row in transition. We just stayed with what we did in the beginning."
The Hornets then sealed the impressive victory by outscoring Owensville 14-11 in the fourth quarter.
Galbreath finished with a game-high 18 points to spur three players in double figures for Fulton, which shot 50 percent (25-of-50) as a team. Junior forward Cameron Vaughn provided 16 points and senior forward Justin Adams logged 10.
"The best word to describe this team is unselfish," Gilmore said. "They get along so great together and they are amazing to work with. As long as we can play team defense on one side, it's team offense on the other side.
"No one cares who scores the basketball."
Senior guard Logan Moritz led the Dutchmen with 11 points and senior guard Dyllan McClure had 10.
The Hornets host a non-conference tripleheader with Osage starting at 5 p.m. Tuesday.
"Osage is a really good team and they're going to give us a good test," Gilmore said. "We're going to have to prepare the next couple of days to get ready for that game."