GALION — Galion had its two-game conference winning streak snapped at home on Saturday afternoon when Marion Pleasant came to town.
The Spartans used a quick start to propel them to a 56-43 Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference win. Before the game, Tyler Sanders and the Galion boys’ basketball program recognized Pleasant senior Trey Booker, who had his season cut short due to a significant injury. Booker is an All-Ohio recipient in basketball and was the MOAC’s third-leading scorer at 20.8 points per game.
Pleasant (10-8, 6-6 MOAC) outscored Galion 15-6 in the first eight minutes to take control of the game early. J.T. Snively had the first seven points of the game and scored 10 of his game-high 20 points in the opening minutes.
Once again, Pleasant’s defense gave the Tigers issues in the second quarter. Another single digit scoring quarter for Galion left them with a 32-13 deficit at halftime.
Galion (7-9, 6-6 MOAC) was able to get going in the second quarter, but a long enough run was never maintained to pull within striking distance. Galion put up 15 points in the third quarter, outscoring Pleasant by a point to trail 46-28 with one quarter remaining.
Cooper Kent led Galion with 19 points on the night and he swished three straight triples in the fourth quarter. The offensive run forced a timeout by Pleasant, which was not a common theme in the ball game.
Following the third triple, Kent was recognized for scoring career point No. 1,000 with the Tigers. Kent has been a heavy contributor for Galion since he was a freshman and one of the best-scoring guards in the area.
Steven Glew added four of his 10 points in the final minutes to help Galion make the game a bit more respectable. Elijah Chafin scored six points and all of those came at the charity stripe.
Carson King added 18 points for the Spartans and Wiley Smith chipped in 15 as well.
Galion will host Bucyrus on Feb. 5, at River Valley on Feb. 9.
Pleasant entertains Centerburg on Monday, then travel to rival Marion Harding on Friday.