Webb City Cardinals drop key game to Nixa

Feb. 16—WEBB CITY, Mo. — In a game that might determine the Central Ozark Conference title, the Webb City Cardinals fell 84-69 to the Nixa Eagles on Friday at the Cardinal Dome.

The Eagles were down early, but rallied to take a 15-14 lead after the first period.

Nixa (18-6, 7-0) put up 27 points in the second quarter and went into the half up 42-37.

The Eagles managed to contain Webb City's Barron Duda in the second half, allowing the Cardinals leading scorer just one point in the second half to gradually take control of the game.

The Eagles stretched their lead, outscoring Webb City 22-15 in the third period. Nixa scored the first 5 points of the third quarter to take a 47-37 lead with 5:52 left in the third period. Nixa extended its lead to 54-39 at the 3:30 mark and held a 60-44 lead with a minute and a half left.

Omari Jackson hit a trey with about 30 seconds left to pull the Cardinals within 10 points at 62-52. Webb City went into the final quarter trailing 64-52.

Webb City's Holton Keith scored at 5:50 to trim the lead to single digits at 67-58. Eli Pace drew the Cards even closer with a bucket at 4:34 to make it 69-62. Slade Hurd hit a 3-pointer at 2:26 to put Webb City closer at 74-68 with 2:26 left, but Nixa outscored the Cardinals 10-1 down the stretch to claim the 84-69 win.

Pace led the Cardinals with 22 points and seven rebounds, Duda added 16 and Keith pitched in with 13. Fifteen of Duda's 16 points came in the first half as he broke the career scoring mark inside the Dome.

Nixa's Adam McKnight claimed game-high honors with 26 points and 11 rebounds. Keivon Flint had 19, Garrett Hines 16 and Josh Peters 13.

Nixa shot 59.1% from the field, including 58.3% from long range. Webb City shot 47.3% from the field and just 27.3% from behind the arc. The Eagles hit 25 of their 33 free throws, compared with 11 of 17 for the Cardinals.

Webb City (17-6, 6-1) has two COC games left on its schedule, and both are on the road — Carl Junction on Tuesday and Neosho on Friday. The Cardinals will need outside help to capture the conference crown. Nixa has home games with Branson and Ozark left.