Mickey Cozart got a good birthday present.
Athens celebrated its coach’s birthday with a 80-48 win over Nelsonville-York on Friday night in Wagner Gymnasium.
“We got a win, that’s all the present I need,” Cozart said.
The Bulldogs almost failed, however, in pulling off their birthday present to Cozart.
It was a one-point game at halftime; the Bulldogs were not playing the way they have over their now five-game winning streak.
In the first half, the Bulldogs were not able to force turnovers. They also had nine first half turnovers.
“I very politely told them how poorly we played in the first half,” Cozart said.
With just a one point lead at halftime, the Bulldogs needed a spark. It came from an Eli Chubb 3-pointer on the first possession of the second half.
And by the end of the third quarter, the Bulldogs' lead had grown to 25 after a 28-4 quarter.
In that third quarter, Athens' defense returned to the form it has had through its five-game win streak. Its shooting form returned to where it had been. Its overall team play returned to the form it had over the last five games.
“All around, we played just about as bad as we could play in the first half,” Cozart said. “You saw in the third quarter what we’re capable of. We've just got to find a way to play like that for more quarters than two or three.”
A constant through the first half struggle and the second half success was the Bulldogs’ inside presence. 56 of their 80 points came in the paint, and all 16 points they scored in the first quarter came inside.
Sixteen of Logan Maxfield’s 21 points came from inside, and all but one of Justin Hynes’ 15 points came in the paint.
Athens was able to dominate inside because of its size advantage. The Bulldogs blocked five Buckeye shots and won the rebounding battle by ten.
While it was clear that Athens had an advantage in the paint, Nelsonville-York still held its own, at least for a little bit.
“(Nelsonville-York) did a great job in the first half,” Cozart said. “Our plan was to go down low, and I didn’t think that we took advantage of that like we could have in the first half.”
Friday’s win was the Bulldogs fifth in a row. All five of those wins came on the road. Athens (8-9, 6-3 Tri-Valley Conference Ohio) still is only one game behind conference leader Vinton County. The Bulldogs will close the season with four of five games at home.
“We’ve had teams give us their best shot through that stretch, and we’ve been able to compose ourselves and do some really good things,” Cozart said. “We just have to continue to do that.”
