ATHENS — The Fairland Dragons didn’t just use a shovel to dig themselves a hole, they used a backhoe.

The Dragons fell behind by as many as 19 points, rallied to within one point of the lead, then lost 52-47 to the Alexander Spartans Saturday in the Wendy’s Classic at the Ohio University Convocation Center.

“To be down 19 and to come back and give yourself a chance makes you proud. But we didn’t play well and that is frustrating,” Fairland coach Chad Belville said.

Fairland’s defense forced 2 turnovers, most of them coming in the second half as the Dragons made their comeback.

“The second half we did a much better job defensively, but we were just too far behind and then we turned it over at the end ourselves,” Belville said.

Josh Johnson scored 12 points and Michael Lamb 11 to lead the Dragons (6-4). Dustin Bumgardner and Lamb had seven rebounds each while Cole Hatfield handed out three assists.

Rylan Kirkendall led Alexander with 12 pionts. Nick Malesko and Matt Demosky added 10 each.

Kirkendall scored seven points in the first quarter as Alexander jumped in front 20-4.

Daniel Skidmore scored six of his eight points in the second quarter as the Spartans held onto a 30-17 hafltime lead. Johnson had six points and Hatfield hit a 3-pointer to keep the game close.

“We just didn’t shoot the ball well in the first quarter and that is to be expected at the Convo if you’re not used to playing there,” Belville said. “It was a good learning experience.”

Fairland actually got within six points in the third quarter before Alexander pulled away to a 38-28 lead.

“We made a defensive adjustment and turned them over quite a bit,” Belville said.

Lamb had seven points and Hatfield hit another 3-pointer in the fourth quarter as Fairland got within one point, but Alexander forced two key turnovers to hold off the comeback attempt.

Fairland4131119=47

Alexander2010814=52

FAIRLAND (6-4): Kyle Wise 2-3 0-3 0-0 4, Josh Johnson 5-15 0-1 2-2 12, Rich Staggs 2- 0-0 0-0 4, Cole Hatfield 1-2 2-11 0-0 8, Chris Barnett 0-1 0-0 0-0 0, Zach Pemberton 1-5 0-0 2-6 4, Michael Lamb 4-8 0-4 3-4 11, Dustin Bumgardner 2-2 0-0 0-0 4. Totals: 17-38

2-19

7-12

47. Fouls: 21. Fouled out: Wise. Rebounds: 28 (Lamb 7, Bumgardner 7). Assists: 10 (Hatfield 3). Turnovers: 14.

ALEXANDER (7-2): Nick Malesko 4-5 0-0 2-2 10, Rylan Kirkendall 4-9 1-3 1-7 12, Zach Hedrick 1-2 1-1 3-4 8, Daniel Skidmore 3-6 0-0 2-3 8, Matt Demosky 2-6 0-1 6-9 10, Seth Fowler 0-1 1-2 1-2 4, Shawn Howson 0-0 0-1 0-0 0, Ryan Thomas 0-3 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 14-32

3-8

15-29

52. Fouls: 9. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 30. Assists: 5. Turnovers: 26.