A balanced scoring attack from the Demopolis Tigers (14-11) led them to a huge upset victory over the Linden Patriots (20-2) on Friday night in Linden.

The Tigers fell behind in the game early and trailed 20-12 after the first quarter, but a strong run late in the second quarter gave Demopolis a one-point lead going into halftime, 38-37.

In the second half, Demopolis was able to build on their halftime lead slightly and held a 53-48 lead going into the final quarter.

Demopolis stretched the lead even more and led by as many as 9, but Linden came storming back and was able to tie the game at 67 with 13.8 seconds to play. After a timeout call, Demopolis inbounded the ball to Tommy Wilson, who broke down his man and hit a mid-range jumper to take the lead with 3.4 seconds to play.

Linden inbounded the ball and got a clean shot off, but Imoras Agee left the go-ahead three pointer short, and Demopolis came away with the 69-67 victory.

Being the final game of the season, Demopolis head coach Rodney Jackson was pleased with how his team responded to diversity and closed the game.

“That was huge for us,” he said. “It was a really big win, and I felt like we executed well. We just kept fighting and fighting. This was a great way to finish the season heading into the area tournament.”

Jackson added that he didn’t feel like his team played their best game, but were still able to come away with a victory. The Tigers’ focus now shifts to Greenville for the first round of the area tournmant.

“Now it’s time to prepare for Greenville,” Jackson said.

Demopolis had five players finish in double figures Friday night. Rashad Lynch led the team in scoring with 15 points, followed by Wilson and Roderick Davis with 13 each. D’metric Howell and Cortez Lewis each added 10, Demetrius Kemp had 6 and Tyler Perkins finished with 2.

In the girls’ game, the Lady Tigers held the advantage throughout the contest, holding the Lady Patriots to just 4 points in each of the first two quarters.

Linden was able to get more scoring in the second half, but Demopolis kept widening the gap. The Lady Tigers won the game 50-28.

Jonniece Collins led Demopolis with 14 points, followed by Sha’Deitra White with 10. Caleb Washington and Ivory Moore each had 6, while Martina Smith had 5 and Alexis Jones had 4. Ebony Moore also got on the board with 2 points.