Fulton senior forward Tyler Sayler logged a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds to help spark the Hornets to a 73-63 NCMC win over the Marshall Owls on Tuesday night at Roger D. Davis Gymnasium.
Fulton avenged a 53-45 loss at Marshall on Dec. 13 in improving to 11-8 overall and 4-2 in the North Central Missouri Conference. Excluding a forfeit loss to Battle at the Southern Boone Classic last week due to weather issues, the Hornets have won six straight.
Fulton overcame a 16-10 deficit after one quarter Tuesday night by outscoring Marshall 20-11 in the second quarter to take a 30-27 edge into halftime. The Hornets maintained a 50-47 lead entering the fourth quarter and sealed the victory by outscoring the Owls 23-16 over the final 8 minutes.
Senior forward John Adams also posted a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds for Fulton. Freshman guard Courtland Simmons added 12 points.
"It was another tough-fought game against an NCMC opponent," Hornets head coach Justin Gilmore said. "Offensively, we were pretty good. We had a nice size advantage and I thought our guys did a good job of getting the ball inside and scoring it when we got it there.
"Our team rebounding was huge for us. It was probably one of our better rebounding games in a while, so it was nice to see the guys make a conscious effort to own the glass."
Jace Lance countered with a game-high 27 points to pace Marshall.
"Jace is a very good player and he was on, so we had to find different ways to stop him from getting open looks," Gilmore said. "I thought our guys did a good job late of making things a little more difficult for him."
The Hornets won the junior varsity contest 43-36. Freshman guard Donovan Weigel provided 11 points.
Fulton travels to Kirksville for an NCMC matchup at 8 p.m. Friday. The Hornets lost to the Tigers 61-42 on Dec. 20 in Fulton.