MOUNT VERNON — Collin Barteau and Kaden Daniels didn’t need many field goal attempts to torch Lexington on Tuesday at The Hive.
The Mount Vernon seniors did most of their damage from the free throw line.
Barteau and Daniels combined to go 21-for-22 from the stripe and the Yellow Jackets maintained a share of the Ohio Cardinal Conference lead with a 67-57 win over the Minutemen.
Mount Vernon (12-5, 7-2) and Mansfield Senior (10-5, 7-2) are tied atop the OCC standings. Lex (12-5, 5-3) and Wooster (8-5, 5-3) are a game back in the loss column.
The Jackets trailed 43-41 going to the fourth quarter, but opened the final period with an 8-0 run to take a 49-43 lead with 6:19 remaining. Six of the eight points came at the stripe.
“When they made a little bit of a run in the fourth quarter, we took a couple of really quick shots. I thought we could have had a little more patience,” Lex coach Scott Hamilton said. “We got down and I think we panicked a little bit.”
Lexington’s Ben Vore and Cade Stover each sank a pair of freebies to cut Mount Vernon’s lead to 49-47 with 5:28 remaining, but Barteau and Daniels combined to score 13 of the Jackets’ next 14 points as the Mount Vernon lead ballooned to 63-53.
“We got to a stretch in the fourth quarter where we got the lead and that was important for us,” Mount Vernon coach Nick Coon said. “Collin is our leading free throw shooter and he got there alot, especially late when they had to foul.”
Mount Vernon shots 26 of their 36 free throws in the fourth quarter, connecting on 22. The Jackets were 30 for 36 from the stripe for the game.
“I told the guys, ‘It’s hard to defend that,’ ” Hamilton said. “They are a great free throw shooting team. We knew that.”
Lex managed just 25 second-half points and was outscored 26-14 in the fourth quarter. Cade Stover, who scored nine of his 19 points in the third quarter, was held without a field goal in the fourth.
“Stover just puts so much pressure on you every single possession with either going to the rim or getting a strong post-up. He gets a lot of attention and rightfully so,” Coon said. “We tried out best to make it tough on him.
“Then when the shot goes up, your work is not done because you’ve got to block out and rebound the basketball.”
Stover grabbed 13 rebounds to go with his team-high 19 points. Ben Vore had 12, while Mason Kearns added 11 and Bryant Givand chipped in with nine.
Barteau led the Jackets with 21 points. Daniels added 18, while Tyler Bills had 13 and Jeffrey Rucker had 10.
Mount Vernon is at West Holmes on Friday. Lexington hosts Ashland.
