RUSSELLVILLE - The Wildcats dropped to 7-14 overall and 1-4 in the Show-Me Conference after being outscored by the Indians 18-12 in the fourth quarter Tuesday night.
New Bloomfield - which has lost seven in a row - trailed 24-22 at halftime, but outscored Russellville 17-12 in the third quarter to take a 39-36 lead. The Indians, though, rallied in the last 8 minutes to escape with the victory over the Wildcats.
Sophomore forward Tanner Payne topped New Bloomfield with 21 points and sophomore guard Keaton Herron supplied 16.
"We did a great job of moving the ball against their zone early and getting to the basket," Wildcats head coach Tim Gilmore said. "Our biggest problem this season has been starting off slow in the second half and finding ourselves down going into the fourth quarter.
"But (Tuesday night) the boys did a nice job in the third quarter into the fourth quarter to give ourselves a six-point lead with one minute to go. We struggled to control the basketball down the stretch. We just have to learn to play with confidence when we have the lead."
New Bloomfield plays an SMC game at St. Elizabeth at 7:30 tonight. The Wildcats then close out the regular season with a rescheduled SMC matchup at Tuscumbia at 8:15 p.m. Friday.