COAL GROVE - Three is becoming an unlucky number for the Coal Grove Hornets.

For the second straight game, the Hornets lost an Ohio Valley Conference game by three points after Chris Brown hit a 3-pointer with two seconds left to life the South Point Pointers to a 39-36 win Friday.

On the flip side, the Hornets Randy Wise attempted a 3-pointer at the buzzer from 40-feet out that hit the back of the rim but bounced off.

“We played good defense. We didn’t slow it down, but we were patient. I think we’re improving, it’s just not showing up in the wins and losses,” Hornets coach Mike Waller said.

Chase McWhorter scored seven of his nine points and Jeremiah Taylor six of his eight in the first half as South Point took a 10-8 lead after the first quarter and 18-11 at the half.

“We always seem to have one bad quarter. This time we only get three points in the second quarter. I just can’t explain it,” Waller said.

The Pointers extended their lead to 30-20 after three quarters and were up by as many as 14 points in the fourth quarter.

But Coal Grove kept clawing away and finally tied the game at 36-36 with 36 seconds to play on a pair of foul shots.

South Point then held the ball and set up its final play for Brown.

J.T. Terry led South Point (8-8, 4-4 OVC) with 15 points.

Wise had 13 points and Adam Bare grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Hornets (5-12, 0-8). Matt Melvin had five rebounds for Coal Grove.

South Point108129=39

Coal Grove83916=36

SOUTH POINT (8-8, 4-4): Chris Brown 2 1 0-0 7, J.T. Terry 7 0 1-3 15, Jerrell Dean 0 0 0-2 0, Zach Woody 0 0 0-0 0, Chase McWhorter 3 1 0-0 9, Jeremiah Taylor 3 0 2-4 8. Totals: 15

2

3-9

39. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None.

COAL GROVE (5-12, 0-8): Zach Murphy 0 0 0-0 0, Evan Melvin 1 0 0-0 2, Chris Dirling 0 1 0-0 3, Matt Melvin 4 0 1-3 9, Randy Wise 1 1 8-8 13, Tyler Branch 2 0 1-2 5, Adam Bare 2 0 0-0 4. Totals: 10

3

10-13

36. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: None.