JACKSON — This was the long and short of it.

Ironton tried to make their scoring spurts long and keep Jackson’s short. It worked for the most part as the Fighting Tigers beat the Jackson Ironmen 67-62 Tuesday in a Southeastern Ohio Athletic League game.

“We knew it would be a physical game. They can knock down shots. It’s a game of spurts. You have to limit theirs and maximize yours,” said Ironton coach Mark LaFon.

“We’re playing hard, aggressive defense right now. It’s not always pretty, but we’re being physical and we’re playing hard.”

Tim Kochendoerfer scored 16 of his 23 points in the first half and Tommy Waginger scored 12 points as Ironton improved to 5-2 overall and 3-0 in the SEOAL.

Erin Edens had his most productive offensive game on the season with 12 points — 8 in the first half.

Morgan Dobbins had six 3-pointers as he scored 20 points for Jackson (3-2,1-2). Dylan Newsom had 19 points including 12 in the first half.

Ironton won the battle of the boards 42-34 as Kochendoerfer and J.P. Taylor had 11 each and Josh Murphy 10. Newsom grabbed 10 and Andrew Christman 9 for Jackson.

Newsom hit two baskets and Kip Winchester another as Jackson jumped out to a 6-0 lead.

But Waginger buried a 3-pointer and made a layup while Kochendoerfer drained a triple to tie the game at 8-8.

Jackson came back to take a 15-14 lead on a 10-footer by Eric Landrum, but Edens followed up a missed shot to give Ironton a 16-15 lead just before the end of the quarter.

Landrum’s 3-pointer tied the game at 18, but Kochendoerfer made two foul shots, Waginger hit another 3-pointer and Malcolm Morton drove for a layup and Ironton had its biggest lead at 27-19.

Jackson got within 29-25 on a layup by Andrew Brown only to have Kochendoerfer convert 3 of 4 foul shots and add a layup to open up a 32-27 lead.

Kochendoerfer’s putback just before the buzzer gave Ironton a 36-28 lead at the break.

Jackson came out hot in the second half and — combined with two Ironton turnovers — stormed back to take a 41-39 lead on the strength of three 3-pointers, two by Dobbins and one by Newsom.

Dobbins hit another shot and a 3-pointer to extend the run to 15-1 and the lead was 46-39.

Ironton trailed 50-42 when Taylor hit a layup and Murphy got a putback basket in the final seconds to get within 50-46 at the end of the quarter.

“They had some deep 3s. They just shot the ball really well. But our press wore them down and their legs weren’t as fresh in the fourth quarter,” said LaFon.

Murphy and Edens had back-to-back layups to start the fourth quarter and the game was tied 50-50 with 6:54 to go. A layup by Edens enabled Ironton to regain the lead and two foul shots by Kochendoerfer made it 54-50.

“Edens was more aggressive and he got some baskets. And I thought Malcolm Morton played a really solid game,” said LaFon.

Jackson tied the game but Taylor’s trey gave Ironton the lead for good. He had a layup after a steal by Kochendoerfer that opened up a 59-54 lead with 2:15 left.

Dobbins’ triple cut the gap to 61-57 but Waginger sank two free throws and Kochendoerfer and Taylor one each and the lead was 67-62 with 22 seconds left.

Ironton hosts Fairland Saturday night.

Ironton 16 20 10 21 = 67

Jackson 15 13 22 12 = 62

IRONTON (5-2, 3-0): Zac Carter 0 0 0-0 0, Tommy Waginger 1 2 4-4 12, Travis Elliott 1 0 0-0 2, Tim Kochendoerfer 5 1 10-15 23, Josh Murphy 2 0 2-4 6, Malcolm Morton 1 0 1-2 3, Erin Edens 6 0 0-1 12, J.P. Taylor 3 1 0-2 9. Totals: 23-65 17-28 67. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 4-12. Rebounds: 42 (Kochendoerfer 11, Taylor 11, Murphy 10).). Assists: 9 (Edens 3). Steals: 10 (Kochendoerfer 5). Blocked shots: 1. Turnovers: 14.

JACKSON (3-2, 1-2): Eric Landrum 4 1 0-0 11, Dylan Newsom 6 1 4-6 19, Andrew Christman 2 0 1-2 5, Morgan Dobbins 1 6 0-0 20, Kip Winchester 2 0 0-1 4, Andrew Brown 1 0 1-2 3, Colt Chapman 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 24-56 6-11 62. Fouls: 24. Fouled out: Christman (4th 5:02). 3-point goals: 8-26. Rebounds: 34 (Newsom 10, Christman 9). Assists: 16 (Winchester 8, Landrum 4). Steals: 5 (Newsom 3). Blocked shots: 10 (Christman 7). Turnovers: 20.