Mt. Pleasant boys hold on

FORT MADISON — The Mt. Pleasant boys basketball team led by over 20 points in its Southeast Conference road tilt at Fort Madison, but it wasn’t the most comfortable of finishes for the Panthers in a 59-58 win on Friday night.

Fort Madison erupted for 29 points in the fourth quarter, putting some pressure on the Panthers, who were looking to stay on the top line in the SEC.

Mt. Pleasant led 15-4 after one quarter, 39-20 at halftime and 49-29 after three quarters. The Panthers had a hot start to the second quarter, running the score to 21, at 53-32 early in the fourth.

Although Fort Madison only lost the game by one, the Bloodhounds didn’t have a chance to win at the end, as a 3-pointer beat the buzzer to cut the lead down from four, and Mt. Pleasant didn’t have to inbound the ball before the buzzer sounded.

Mt. Pleasant’s Payton Hagans continued to play well in league games, going for 22 points, eight rebounds and three steals. Aaidan Ashton finished with 12 points and six rebounds.

Owen Vansickel ended the night with nine points. Nate Stroud had eight. Carter Amos scored four, and Noah Lange and Christian Stacy each scored two.

Mt. Pleasant moved to 6-3 overall and 4-1 in SEC play with the win. The Panthers are tied with Washington in first place, with Burlington sitting one-half game back at 3-1.

Mt. Pleasant hosts Albia (5-4) in a nonconference game on Monday.