WAYNE, W.Va. -- Once the Ironton Fighting Tigers got going, they moved pretty well.

After a slow start, Ironton put together its best shooting performance of the young season in a 58-44 win over the Wayne Pioneers Saturday.

The Fighting Tigers hit 19 of 38 shots from the field for 50 percent and connected on 4 of 9 from 3-point range as they improved to 8-1.

Josh Sands led three players in double figures with 17 points. Derique Bacon had 13 points and eight rebounds, and Dennis Gagai came off the bench to scored 13 points and had seven rebounds.

"I thought we were a little rusty. We didn't start very strong. We had good energy, and we shot the ball better. At least it seemed like we shot the ball better," Ironton coach Roger Zornes said. "We got Josh going a little bit, Dennis got going a little, and Derique got some shots inside."

Tracy Jackson led Wayne (1-5) with 15 points while Justin Clagg added 10.

The scoring started slow with Ironton running off the first 7 points of the game. Wayne didn't scored until Josh Powers hit a 15-footer with 2:40 left in the first quarter. Sands follow up with 20 seconds on the clock put Ironton ahead 10-2.

Jackson's layup started the second quarter for Wayne, but Sands drained back-to-back treys and the lead was 16-4.

A layup by Gagai gave Ironton its biggest lead of the half at 26-11, and then Robert Kennedy's foul shot for Wayne made it 26-12 at the break.

Jackson got hot the third quarter as he scored 12 points. He scored 6 straight at one point and his layup with seven seconds left got the Pioneers within 35-29.

Ironton had 14 turnovers for the game, but seven came in the third quarter as Wayne made its move.

But Sands hit an 18-footer to open the fourth quarter and then sank two foul shots. Gagai's layup followed by a steal and layup by Brigham Waginger extended the lead to 41-29.

Wayne did close the gap to 47-37 on a 3-point play by Clagg, but Gagai hit back-to-back shots with 2:17 left and the lead was a comfortable 53-38.

"We've been working on some new things, and at times they looked good and at times they didn't. But its a win on the road and I'll take it," coach Zornes said.

In the reserve game, Ironton (9-0) won 89-16 win as Brent McBride had 22 points, Dennis Gagai 17, and Marcus Williams 10.

Ironton1016923--58

Wayne2101715--44

IRONTON (8-1):

Josh Sands 5-9 (3-4) 4-6 17, Brigham Waginger 2-4 (0-0) 1-2 5, Joe Zornes 0-5 (0-2) 2-2 2, Nick Collins 0-2 (0-0) 3-6 3, Derique Bacon 5-8 (0-0) 3-6 13, Dennis Gagai 5-7 (1-2) 2-2 13, Kevin Williams 0-1 (0-1) 0-0 0, Aaron Quinn 0-1 (0-0) 0-0 0, Patrick Kouns 2-3 (0-0) 1-2 5, Andrew Harvey 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Brent McBride 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Jeff Pleasant 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0. Totals: 19-38

(4-9)

16-26

58. Fouls: 24. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 10-19=29 (Bacon 8, Gagai 7, Sands 4). Team/deadball rebounds: 2. Assists: 9 (Waginger 4, Gagai 2). Steals: 6 (Kouns 2). Turnovers: 14.

WAYNE (1-5):

Tracy Jackson 6-9 (0-0) 3-7 15, Ryan Wellman 2-9 (0-3) 5-8 9, Kyle Wellman 0-3 (0-2) 1-2 1, Brian Thomas 1-4 (0-0) 1-1 3, Josh Powers 1-2 (0-0) 0-2 2, Justin Clagg 1-4 (0-3) 8-10 10, Robert Kennedy 0-1 (0-0) 2-6 2, Adam Adkins 1-2 (0-0) 0-0 2. Totals: 12-34

(0-8)

20-36

44. Fouls: 19. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 10-14=24 (Jackson 5, K. Wellman 5, Clagg 4). Team/deadball rebounds: 2. Assists: 4 (R. Wellman 2). Steals: 2. Turnovers: 17.