MATEWAN, W.Va. - The area basketball fans may have entered theTiger Dome last night cold fromthe low emperatures outside. But by the time the game was over the excitement and electricity that the on-floor action between the Gilbert Lions and the Matewan Tigers more than left everyone wam and exhausted from the action.

Bot teams battled each other in a no-quit fashion that saw MAtewan have a 16 point lead at one point dissapae to place where they actually had to come from behind to come out with a 71 to 68 win over their sectional and county rival.

In a game that saw Bradnon Burgraff held scoreless in the first quarter, Matewan used good defense and good rebounding by Matt Kennedy and Nathaniel Mitchell to win this contest.

Max Whitt came off the bench to spark the Tigers on this night with a 14 point performance. That coupled with Kennedy’s double double with 17 points and 16 rebounds helped Matewan’s offense finally take a 16 point lead into the third quarter of play. Then the wheels came off the wagon.

“One minute we were up 15 or 16, we did some subing and the next thing I knew we were in a battle to stay ahead.”said Matewan Coach Phiip Mitchell.

The Lions had the lead with 1:30 remaining in the game and Matewan battled back to get a 1 - point lead with 8 seconds remaining. Brandon Burgraff hit two foul shots with 8 seconds remaining and Matewan held on to get the win.

“We were lucky to come out with a win because we didn’t play very well overall”. said Mitchell. “We’ll have to pay a whole lot better tomorrow night against Tolsia to win against them.”

Scoring by Quarters:

Gilbert........11 13 16 28 - 28

Matewan....14 19 16 22 - 22

Scoring by Team:

Gilbert :Kyle Smith 20, Aaron Birchfield 15, Dalton Bailey 15, Travis Hatfield 7, Cody Houck 6, Ashton Cline 5.

Matewan (9-1): Brandon Burgraff 20, Matt Kennedy 17, Max Whitt 14, Colton Copley 10, Josh Sammons 6, Nathaniwl Mitchell 4.