He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword.

The can be said for winning and losing basketball games. Teams need to shoot well to win. Teams that don't, lose. Such was the case Saturday night for the Ironton Fighting Tigers.

Ironton was just 17 of 69 from the field for 24.6 percent, 4 of 21 from 3-point range, and just 7 of 18 from the line in a 48-45 loss to the Boyd County Lions.

"When you live by the outside shot, you die by the outside shot," Ironton coach Roger Zornes. "When your top four scorers shoot like they did, it's hard to win.

"The bad thing about it was that we had good looks. They were looks we normally get and shots we normally make."

Ironton's top four scorers - Dennis Gagai, Josh Sands, Brigham Waginger, Joe Zornes - were a combined 12 of 56 from the floor.

Both Gagai and Waginger were nursing the effects of sprained ankles. Gagai missed Tuesday's game due to his injury.

"We were a little rusty," Zornes said. "Brigham was about 80 percent and Dennis was about the same. I'm a little worried about getting our timing back. But we played hard."

Ironically, 6-foot-1 center Derique Bacon shot the best percentage (5 of 8) despite playing against the Lions 6-8 Greg Fugate.

The game was the second for Zornes against Boyd County, a team he coached for 19 years before coming to Ironton.

"Boyd County shot the ball extremely well. I wish them well," Zornes said of the Lions who were 21 of 44 from the field for 48 percent.

Ironton (13-3) was down 13-8 at the end of the first quarter as they made 3 of 17 shots.

The Lions went up 22-12 with 4:53 to go in the half on a putback by Fugate, but Ironton pulled to within 26-25 on a shot jumper by Bacon and a layup by Waginger with 25 seconds left.

Waginger's layup to start the second half put Ironton up 27-26 and the lead changed hands six times before Boyd County pulled away to a 39-32 lead. Gagai hit a 3-pointer with 17 seconds on the clock and it was 39-35.

Sands hit two straight jumpers to begin the fourth quarter as Ironton drew even, and a layup by Waginger put the Fighting Tigers ahead 41-39 with 4:47 to play.

Jake Hughes made a 15-footer and a layup by Fugate had the Lions back on top. Waginger's layup tied the game for the last time with 2:20 remaining.

J.K. Roberts and Ryan Meenach had back-to-back layups as Boyd County took a 47-43 lead. Bacon followed up a missed shot to cut the deficit to 47-45.

Daniel Helo was fouled and sank the front end of a one-and-one with 21 seconds left as the Lions went up 48-45.

But Ironton missed the front end of a one-and-one and Gagai's 3-point attempt at the buzzer was on target by hit the back of the rim and bounced off as the horn sounded.

Waginger had 15 points, Bacon 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Gagai 10 points and eight rebounds.

Roberts, who was 4 of 8 from 3-point range, led the Lions (16-5) with 18 points while grabbing 10 rebounds. Fugate added 13 points and 14 rebounds.

Boyd Co.1313139-48

Ironton8171010-45

BOYD COUNTY (16-5):

Kurt Faulkner 1-2 (0-0) 0-0 2, Jake Hughes 3-7 (0-0) 0-0 6, Greg Fugate 6-11 (0-0) 1-2 13, Ryan Meenach 4-8 (0-0) 0-0 8, J.K. Roberts 7-14 (4-8) 0-0 18, Daniel Helo 0-1 (0-0) 1-2 1, London Bowe 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Mike Webster 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Brandon Slone 0-1 (0-0) 0-0 0. Totals: 21-44

(4-8)

2-4

48. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: Hughes. Rebounds: 9-34=43 (Fugate 14, Roberts 10, Hughes 10). Team/dead ball rebounds: 1. Assists: 8 (Faulkner 3). Steals: 3. Turnovers: 21. FG%- 47.7. FT%- 50. 3pt%- 50.

IRONTON (13-3):

Josh Sands 2-12 (0-2) 0-2 4, Brigham Waginger 6-17 (1-4) 2-6 15, Dennis Gagai 3-21 (2-11) 2-4 10, Joe Zornes 1-6 (1-3) 1-2 4, Derique Bacon 5-8 (0-0) 2-4 12, Marcus Williams 0-2 (0-0) 0-0 0, Patrick Kouns 0-1 (0-0) 0-0 0, Brandon Walker 0-1 (0-1) 0-0 0. Totals: 17-69

(4-21)

7-18

45. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 20-13=33 (Bacon 11, Gagai 8, Sands 6). Team/dead ball rebounds: 2. Assists: 5 (Waginger 3, Zornes 2). Steals: 13 (Gagai 4, Waginger 3, Sands 3). Turnovers: 5. FG%- 24.6. FT%- 38.9. 3pt%- 19.