MOUNTAINBURG -- The Decatur Bulldogs traveled south Jan. 13 to take on the Dragons of Mountainburg in their fifth conference game of the season.
The Bulldogs quickly gained the upper hand as they were the first to score in the opening seconds of the contest. They held Mountainburg scoreless through the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, however, Decatur did not hold the monopoly on points. But it would not be enough to catch up to the Bulldogs, who maintained a nine-point lead at the end of the first half, 20 to 11.
The second half was all Decatur, as the pressure tactic head basketball coach John Unger deployed early in the season continued to work well for the Bulldogs. The Dragons tried to mount two rallies during the fourth quarter and pulled back within nine points, but that was as close as they came.
When the final buzzer sounded, Decatur had pulled ahead by 13 points, posting a 45 to 32 victory over the Mountainburg Dragons.
"We played tough defense and that kept us ahead tonight," said John Unger, Decatur's basketball coach. "We struggled a little on offense, but we just kept at it and eventually made some baskets and ended up with a big road win. Every road win in league play is a plus."
Leading scorer for the Bulldogs was Mario Urquidi with 21 points and 13 rebounds (another double-double), followed by Pheng Lee with 11 points and 1 rebound. Other Bulldog scorers included Bracy Owens with 3 points and Victor Urquidi, Terry Kell, Allan Castaneda, Kyle Shaffer and Meng Vang with 2 points each.
Rebounds for the Bulldogs included Victor Urquidi and Terry Kell, each with 4; followed by Allan Castaneda and Jay Porter, with 3 each.
The senior high girls lost to the Lady Dragons in a tough match, 48 to 23.
Sports on 01/21/2015