SCIOTOVILLE - The Symmes Valley Vikings got things the old fashioned way: They earned it.

However, the East Tartans got everything they needed for free.

The Tartans converted 24 of 32 foul shots as they edged Symmes Valley 70-68 in a Southern Ohio Conference win Tuesday.

The Vikings were up 65-64 with a minute to play, but East began a string of six straight foul shots to get the win.

"We made some turnovers that hurt us. We handled the ball most of the game pretty well, but at the end we kind of fumbled it around a little bit. And they hit their foul shots. It hurt not having (Chase) Higgins, too," Vikings coach Alvin Carpenter said.

Matt Owens led the Vikings with 17 points including five 3-point goals. Michael White added 11 points, Kyle Meadows had six rebounds, Craig Neal five assists and Justin Holland came away with three steals.

The Vikings fell to 8-8 overall and 5-5 in the SOC.

Jeff Swick had 25 points, Brent Downing 21 and Nathan Williams 17 to lead East (9-7, 5-5).

Owens had 6 points on a pair of 3-pointers in the first quarter as the Vikings took a 15-13 lead.

But East rallied to tie the game 32-32 at the half as Swick scored 13 points in the second quarter.

Symmes Valley went up 46-45 after three quarters. Justin Ferguson scored 7 of his 8 points in the fourth quarter to keep the Vikings close, but Williams had 12 points and the Tartans converted 13 of 18 foul shots as a team.

Sym. Valley15171422-68

Ports. East13191325-70

SYMMES VALLEY (8-8, 5-5):

Craig Neal 0 1 0-0 3, Cory Burcham 2 1 2-2 9, Derrek Cremeans 2 0 0-0 4, Justin Ferguson 2 1 1-2 8, Kyle Meadows 3 0 0-0 6, Justin Holland 1 1 2-2 7, Matt Owens 0 5 2-2 17, John Wiseman 1 0 0-0 2, Michael White 5 0 1-1 11, Alex Burnett 0 0 1-2 1. Totals: 25-67

(9-24)

9-11

68. Fouls: 29. Fouled out: Wiseman, Meadows, Burcham, Neal. Rebounds: 27 (Meadows 6). Steals: 9 (Holland 3). Assists: 14 (Neal 5). Turnovers: 16.

PORTSMOUTH EAST (9-7, 5-5):

Jeff Swick 8 0 9-12 25, Nathan Williams 2 3 4-4 17, Brent Downing 6 1 6-8 21, Eric Rendquist 0 0 1-2 1, Travis Riggs 1 0 3-4 5, Alex Shope 0 0 1-2 1. Totals: 17

(4)

24-32

70. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None.