Down 38-27 at intermission, the Cougars would outscore the Fort Chiswell Pioneers 32-17 in the second half to defeat them 59-55, in a hard-fought game. The Cougars got 21 points from Hayden Gray and 15 from Dillon Porter. Gray stroked five three’s and Porter pulled down 11 rebounds.

Fort Chiswell got 21 points from Kolton Sutphin and 13 from Matt Musick. The Pioneers led 35-16 with just under three minutes left before intermission. The Cougars Gray would then hit three- three’s to help the Cougars get back to 11 down going into halftime.

Cougar head coach Andrew Hart remarked, ” We played the worse half of basketball in the first half tonight. I challenged them at halftime. We came back out with a lot more intensity and energy for the second half.”

Pulaski Co. (3-5) stopped a three-game losing streak with the win and will face George Wythe in their second round. It was the Pioneers (8-1) first loss of the season. Coach Hart said, “We made a couple of adjustments for the second half. We put AJ McCloud on Sutphin and his length seemed to bother him some.”

Pul. Co. 11 16 17 15-59

Fort Ch. 21 17 7 10- 55

PC – McCloud 8, Gray 21, Porter 15, Miller 2, Mannon 1, Roberson 2, Poe 5, Russell 2, O’Dell 1, Bourne 2

Fort Ch.- Sutphin 21, Watson 5, Musick 13, Van Dyne 2, King 1, Dunford 2, Gravely 8, Merchberger 3

3-PT. Goals- PC – 5- ( Gray 5), Fort Ch. – 8-( Sutphin 5, Musick 2, Merchberger)

Total FG’s – PC -19, Fort Ch.- 20

FT’s – PC – 16-25, Fort Ch. -7-12

Fouls- PC – 12, Fort Ch.- 17

Fouled Out-None

Technicals – None