When the game was broken down by quarters, it was an even matchup between the Helias Crusaders and the Jefferson City Jays.
Helias won the first and third quarters, while Jefferson City won the second and fourth quarters. But the game was decided well before the closing seconds.
The Crusaders played well enough in their down quarters to beat the Jays 67-60 in Sunday's third-place game of the Joe Machens Great 8 Classic at Fleming Fieldhouse.
"We got off to a good start finally," Helias coach Joe Rothweiler said, as his team won the first quarter 18-8. "That was huge for us. I thought we could maybe maintain that lead a little bit more, but they did a good job of getting out in transition and we did a bad job of getting back in transition."
Helias' other winning quarter was the third, when the Crusaders outscored the Jays 21-8 to build a 49-33 lead.
While the first quarter has been an issue for Helias, the third quarter has been detrimental this season for the Jays.
"It's been a nemesis for us all year long," Jays coach Tony Phillips said. " It seems like in our third quarters, in our dry spells, we start playing one-on-one instead of team basketball. When we play one-on-one, we're not very good."
Helias won the scoring battle in the first quarter with three consecutive 3-pointers, two by Malcolm Davis and the other by Isaac Johnson. That turned a slim 6-5 advantage into a 15-5 lead with 3:11 left in the quarter.
Davis scored eight of his 14 points in the opening quarter.
"When he's stepping in rhythm, he knocks those down," Rothweiler said. "Our guys did a good job of getting into the paint and kicking it to him."
Damon Johanns, who finished with 12 points, scored off an in-bounds pass early in the second quarter to extend Helias' lead to 20-8, but the Jays answered with a 13-2 run. Ben Folz, Keith Driver and Brennan Jeffries each made a 3 during that stretch, and Kaidyn Johnson scored a basket from the right block with 2:16 left in the half to cut the Helias lead to 22-21.
"We've constantly shown that we're going to compete with anybody and everybody," Phillips said.
Helias never trailed in the game, going into halftime with a 28-25 advantage. The Crusaders had planned to hold for the last shot, but Jefferson City's defensive pressure forced Marcus Anthony to drive toward the lane and take a mid-range jumper that hit the back of the rim and bounced in with :14 remaining.
"We tell our guys if (they pressure us), we can't run our set and you have to go and get a good look," Rothweiler said. "Marcus did, and he had some nice touch shots around the rim that fell for us."
Anthony was only getting started, as he scored nine more points in the third quarter to finish with a team-high 23 points, adding 11 rebounds for a double-double.
Helias finished the third quarter on a 14-2 run to push its lead to 49-33.
"On the board before the game, we wrote, 'Attack,'" Rothweiler said. "Be in attack mode, get to the paint, and that's what we came out trying to do.
"We're a whole different team when we're in attack mode."
Jefferson City won the scoring battle 17-10 in the second quarter, but the Jays scored 27 points in the game's final eight minutes.
Although the Jays never got any closer than seven of the lead in the fourth quarter, they made all 12 attempts from the free-throw line and finished the game 15-of-16 at the stripe.
"We do a good job from the free-throw line," Phillips said. "We need to get there more."
Jeffries scored 13 of his game-high 24 points in the fourth quarter. DeSha finished with a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Both Jeffries and DeSha were named to the all-tournament team after the game. Anthony and Davis represented Helias on the all-tournament team.
This will be the first of three meetings this season between the Jays and the Crusaders. The next matchup will be Jan. 21 at Fleming Fieldhouse, while Part III is scheduled for Feb. 18 at Rackers Fieldhouse.
"To get that first win is huge," Rothweiler said. "Nobody likes to lose this game."
Helias (6-2) is off until Jan. 9, when it opens the Houlihan's Invitational at Springfield Catholic against Cape Girardeau: Notre Dame.
Jefferson City (4-5) will host Hickman on Jan. 6 in its next contest.