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Jacobs loses lead, third-place game to Zion-Benton

Jacobs looked to be on its way to claiming third place in its Hinkle Holiday Classic as it overcame a sluggish start to build a 12-point lead late in the third quarter against Zion-Benton on Saturday night.

But the Golden Eagles couldn't overcome a sluggish ending as the defending tournament champion Zee-Bees (9-3) rallied for a 64-61 victory in Algonquin.

"It's a shame - the kids are upset and they should be," said Jacobs coach Jimmy Roberts of his team's second straight fourth-place tourney finish. "The kids know they're better than they showed in the fourth quarter. (Friday's 66-51 loss to tourney champ Larkin) didn't hurt because the other team played better. That one tonight hurt."

Jacobs (8-5) was just 2-for-17 from the field and 2-for-11 on 3-pointers as it trailed 15-7 after a quarter. But Cory Boeckh, who had 21 points on 7-for-14 shooting behind the arc, hit three straight 3s to start the second quarter and his fifth 3 of the first half on 1 of 5 assists by all-tourney pick Chrishawn Orange (17 points, 7 rebounds) beat the halftime buzzer for a 34-28 lead.

The Eagles kept rolling to lead 47-35 with 1:40 left in the third when Orange hit a pullup jumper. A buzzer-beating layup by all-tourney pick Cameron Krutwig (6 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists) off an assist by Kenton Mack (12 points) put them up 51-41 going into the fourth.

"It was a little bit of a letdown because our guys wanted to win this tournament," said Zion coach Bob Worthington. "Our guys were a little sluggish and played in the sand for 28 minutes."

But the Zee-Bees started getting out of it with an 8-point run to start the fourth. Boeckh's 3 and his lob to Mack for a layup put Jacobs up 56-51.

Zion answered as a driving 3-point play by Tennessee-bound all-tourney pick Admiral Schofield (21 points on 7-for-18 shooting, 15 rebounds) started a 9-point run to put his team up for good at 60-56 with 53 seconds left.

Boeckh hit a 3 with eight seconds left and the Golden Eagles took their final timeout down 63-61. Schofield hit the first of 2 free throws, Krutwig rebounded the miss and got the ball to Mack, who pump-faked Schofield out of his way but couldn't connect on his tying 3 attempt at the buzzer.

"I thought we did a good job defensively the entire night after we didn't hit shots early," Roberts said after Zion shot just 37.7 percent from the field (20-for-53). "We really got control of the game and we were doing a good job defensively, but for about a three-minute stretch in the fourth quarter we had some really poor possessions and that was compounded by them hitting 4 consecutive 3s."

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