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Washington Evening Journal
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Washington handed first SEC loss
Demons drop to a tie for 1st after home defeat against Fort Madison
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WASHINGTON — Three times in December the Washington boys basketball team entered the second half trailing in a Southeast Conference game, and three times, the Demons stormed back to grab a thrilling win. Unfortunately for the Demon faithful, Friday night didn't follow the same trend.
For the first time all season, Washington took a league loss, as Fort Madison came into town to hand the Demons a 68-49 loss.
Fort Madison's size was too much for hosting Washington early on. The Bloodhounds jumped out to a 17-4 lead and never looked back. Fort Madison held a 22-6 advantage after the first horn, a 34-15 lead at halftime and a 55-38 advantage after three.
"There have been games this year where we've started slow, and we've responded," said Washington head coach Collin Stark. "You're asking a lot to be able to give a team a certain amount of points, and expect to try to battle back."
There were times of hope for the Demons, who eventually settled in and made a game of it. Washington had the Fort Madison lead down to 14 in the fourth quarter but could never get it back to single digits.
Washington's Seth Shepard exploded for 13 points off the bench to lead the Demons. Logan McDole had 12 points. Drew Conrad finished with seven. Rajan Roth had four. Nic Stone finished with three. Conner Leyden and Cole Vetter each scored two.
The loss dropped the Demons to 3-1 in SEC play. The Demons and Bloodhounds are now tied atop the SEC with that record.
