It’s not always how many you shoot, but how many you make.

Symmes Valley had eight more field goals but 19 few foul shots as the Beaver Eastern Eagles outscored the Vikings 88-83 on Saturday in a Southern Ohio Conference game.

The difference in the game came at the foul line where the Eagles converted 28-of-43 attempts and the Vikings only made 9-of-20.

But Vikings’ coach Alvin Carpenter refused to use the disparity of free throw difference as an excuse.

“We had our chances and we made some plays, but they just made a few more plays,” said Vikings’ coach Alvin Carpenter.

“The shot a lot of free throws, but if we had made more of our foul shots it wouldn’t have made a difference.”

Luke Taylor had 27 points and 12 rebounds while Kris Tibbs had 25 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Vikings (7-11, 6-7). Josh Craft added 17 points and Hunter Johnson handed out six assists.

Eastern (10-7, 9-4) was led by Bryan Osborne with 22 points. Kole Wheeler scored 17, Jordan Thornsberry 16 and Derek Lawhorn 15.

Osborne scored nine straight points as Eastern took an 11-2 lead to start the game. But Craft scored nine points as the Vikings came back to take a 20-17 lead.

The points began to flow in the second quarter as Osborne scored 11 points to offset 10 by Tibbs as Eastern rallied to take a 46-42 halftime lead.

With the Vikings trailing 69-59 after three quarters, Taylor scored 11 points in the fourth quarter to trigger a comeback.

But Lawhorn made six free throws and Osborne four as the Eagles connected on 10 straight foul shots to seal the win.

Symmes Valley 20 22 17 24 = 83

Beaver Eastern 17 29 23 19 = 88

SYMMES VALLEY (7-11, 6-7): Dustin Wilson 1 0 0-0 2, Josh Craft 2 4 1-2 17, Kris Tibbs 10 1 2-2 25, Jesse Graybeal 0 0 0-1 0, Luke Taylor 11 0 5-11 27, Robbie Powell 1 1 0-0 5, Hunter Johnson 3 0 1-4 7, Ryan Stanley 0 0 0-0 0, Justin Payne 0 0 0-0 0, Brandon Bowling 0 0 0-0 0, Randy Steele 0 0 0-0 0, Josh Hager 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 34-62 9-20 83. Fouls: 20. Fouled out: Graybeal, Powell, Payne. 3-point goals: 6-14. Rebounds: 32 (Tibbs 13, Taylor 12). Assists: 9 (Johnson 6). Steals: 4 (Craft 2, Taylor 2). Turnovers: 14. Blocked shots: Tibbs 2.

BEAVER EASTERN (10-7, 9-4): Jacob Helton 1 1 1-2 6, Anthony Edler 1 0 2-2 4, Jordan Thornsberry 5 1 3-8 16, Derek Lawhorn 0 3 6-8 15, Bryan Osborne 2 3 9-11 22, Kole Wheeler 6 0 5-8 17, Dooug McVey 2 0 1-2 5, Kevin Montgomery 1 0 1-2 3. Totals: 18 8 28-43 88. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: None.