Eels use 3-point shooting to down Bulldogs

Dawson Gore and Ronnie Marcum each knocked down five 3-pointers and combined for 34 points to lead visiting Eminence to a 61-53 Tri-River Conference victory over host Union at Dugger Saturday night.

The Eels, who improved to 1-1 overall and in the TRC, finished with 11 treys as a team.

Gore had 19 points, three short of the total he had in a loss Friday at North Central. Marcum added 15 as his 3-point shooting accounted for his total output.

"Their 3-point shooting was the difference," said Union (Dugger) boys basketball coach Clarence Johnson, whose Bulldogs dropped to 0-4, 0-2 in the TRC. "They knocked down 11 threes, which is pretty hard to overcome.

"They hit several with hands in their face but they hit some when they caught helping on defense. It is hard to counter that when shots are falling."

Johnson said his kids are continuing to give maximum effort.

"These kids are tough and don't give up, no matter how frustrating things may be," said Johnson. "They played their hearts out again. I was really proud of the effort they put forth."

Tyler Talpas hit five treys of his own as he scored a career-high 19 points, pacing the Bulldogs.

"It was good to see Tyler have a breakout game," said Johnson. "He shot the ball awfully well.

"He hit three, 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, when we cut an 11-point lead down to five. But Eminence made all of their free throws in the fourth quarter. They were 8 of 15 for the game and 8 of 13 in the final quarter. We had some opportunities but just couldn't get the ball in the basket as much as we needed to do."

Trent Collins had the other Bulldog 3-pointer and finished with 10 points.

Eminence won the jv contest 59-35. Zach Birdsong led the Bulldogs with 15 points and Mike Foglesong added nine points.

The Bulldogs will play at Sullivan Friday before facing Shakamak at Jasonville Saturday.

EMINENCE (61) -- Dawson Gore 7 0-0 19, Ronnie Marcum 5 0-1 15, Watkins 3 4-8 10, Shupe 3 2-4 8, Ford 2 2-2 6, Szalay 0 0-1 0, Feutz 1 0-0 3, Totals 21 8-15 61.

UNION (53) -- Dustin Howard 2 3-8 7, Ethan Fettig 2 1-2 5, Trent Collins 4 1-2 10, Tyler Talpas 6 5-6 22, Jacob Phegley 2 3-5 7, Seth Gambill 1 0-2 2. Totals 16 13-25 53.

Eminence 14 17 14 16 -- 61

Union 9 14 11 19 -- 53.

3-pointers -- Eminence 11 (Marcum 5, Gore 5, Feutz), Union 6 (Talpas 5, Collins). Fouls -- Eminence 21, Union 15. Fouled out -- Howard, Marcum, Watkins.