The California Pintos were tired, but the results were well worth the exhaustion.
Taking the court for the second time in less than 24 hours, California ran nonstop up and down the court Saturday, hanging on for a 70-67 win against the Iberia Rangers in the Capital City Shootout at Fleming Fieldhouse.
"It was a fun game," said California coach Ron Lebel, whose team defeated Missouri Military Academy 80-69 on Friday. "Anytime you win back-to-back, it's nice, it's fun. I hope the kids enjoyed it."
Saturday's game only featured two lead changes, but it came down to the final seconds. Iberia's Garrett Ray shot a 3-point attempt that was off the mark with about 8 seconds remaining, needing the basket to tie the game.
California had a chance to seal the win at the free-throw line, but after a pair of misses by Trystan Hees, the Rangers had one last chance. However, Zach Voss' 3-point attempt from the right corner was also off the mark at the buzzer.
"We wanted to spread the floor, we wanted to push it and attack the middle of the floor," Iberia coach Nick Voss said. "I have faith in my guys to knock down open shots, and I felt like we got open shots in those last few possessions. A couple of them didn't fall."
The Pintos wasted little time building a double-digit lead, going ahead 14-4 at the midway point of the first quarter. Hees, California's 6-foot-2 senior forward, scored eight points in the first quarter and was a rebound shy of a double-double by halftime.
Despite playing the entire game in foul trouble, Hees still finished with a double-double of 15 points and 15 rebounds.
"I knew one advantage we had tonight coming in was Trystan inside," Lebel said. "He did get in a little bit of foul trouble and he didn't finish a few shots he usually does, but he's big for us."
Iberia closed the gap to six points by the end of the first quarter, trailing 22-16 after a 3 from Ray in the corner.
The Rangers changed things up in the second quarter, coming out with a zone defense. California was forced to shoot from the outside and missed its first six 3-point attempts.
Ray gave Iberia its first lead with back-to-back 3s from the right win with 1:57 left in the first half, putting the Rangers ahead 32-31. He was 4-of-4 from 3-point range in the first half and scored a game-high 23 points for Iberia.
"Garrett did a really good job of stepping up," Voss said. "He's done a really good job this year on the offensive end. Last year, he was my defensive guy, he wasn't a scorer. He's still that defensive guy, but he's made himself a well-rounded player."
Iberia led 37-35 at halftime. California took the lead for good midway through the third quarter during an 8-0 run, getting a 3 from Jordon Geiser and back-to-back baskets by Isaac Ash.
The Pintos would led 53-49 at the end of the third and pushed their lead to as much as 10 points in the fourth.
"Right now, we're not closing out games very well," Lebel said. "It almost feels like we need a 20-point lead to even feel comfortable. We have a hard time managing basketball games right now."
Geiser, who was award the game MVP shortly after the final buzzer, led the Pintos with 22 points, shooting 8-of-19 from the field.
"He kept us under control," Lebel said. "He was a leader for us."
Ash also finished with 14 points for California.
The Rangers limited the Pintos to 8-of-31 shooting from 3-point range.
"I knew they were going to throw up a lot of 3s," said Voss, whose team was 11-of-26 from 3, breaking the Shootout record for most made 3s in a game. "I thought we did an all right job."
Collin Riemensnider scored 13 points for the Rangers and Zach Voss, who was also limited due to foul trouble, finished with 10 points.
California (5-3) hosts Knob Noster on Tuesday.
Iberia (6-2) plays Tuesday at Conway.