The Lewisburg Middle School Tigers (3-3) saw their modest two-game winning streak come to an end on Thursday night when they suffered a heartbreaking 44-42 loss to Whitthorne Middle School (7-2) in Columbia.

Having won 11 of the previous 12 meetings against Whitthorne, the Tigers appeared they would get the better of WMS again after taking a 42-39 lead with :57 left in the game.

Guard Chris Armstrong then came to Whitthorne's rescue during crunch time, as he hit two free throws to trim the deficit to 42-41 before knocking down an off balance three-pointer with :06 remaining to give WMS the dramatic victory.

'Played well'

"I thought we played well and played as hard as we could," said Lewisburg coach David Lovell. "We put ourselves in a position to win. They just made big shots when they needed to."

The Tigers committed only five turnovers in the contest, but were bothered by Whitthorne's superior height and shot just 35 percent (15-of-43) from the field, which included a 2-of-10 effort from three-point range, while making only 10-of-20 free throws overall.

Point guard Caleb Fields led the Tigers offensive attack by pouring in a game high 20 points to go along with 10 rebounds and four assists. K.J. Johnson followed Fields with 11 points, while Wesley Walker and Kamron Liggett-Hightower added six and five points respectively.

Aided by a 6-of-12 shooting performance from center Kenyonte Davis, Whitthorne shot 46 percent (18-of-39) from the floor while committing 12 turnovers and knocking down 3-of-9 attempts from beyond the arc. Lewisburg did hold an 8-4 edge on the offensive glass, but WMS outrebounded the Tigers 27-19 overall.

Davis paced Whitthorne with 15 points and Armstrong tallied nine points. Qua Kennedy notched seven points as well, while Jacayeh Webster and Drew Williamson chipped in five and four points respectively.

Lead changes

Lewisburg grabbed a 6-2 lead midway through the first quarter thanks to four points from Fields and a layup from Liggett-Hightower, but Whitthorne put together a 13-3 run to pull ahead 15-9 early in the second period.

The Tigers outscored WMS 9-4 over the next three minutes behind five points from Fields to cut the deficit to 19-18, before Davis converted a three-point play to give WMS a 22-18 advantage late in the half.

After Liggett-Hightower hit a fade away jumper in the waning moments of the first half to narrow the gap to 22-20 at break, Walker hit a runner at the start of the third quarter to tie the game at 22-22.

Whitthorne outscored Lewisburg 8-4 over the next 2:38 to take a 30-26 lead, but the Tigers countered with a 10-2 spurt, highlighted by a Fields three-point play and trey from Johnson, to seize a 36-32 advantage midway through the fourth quarter.

Close action

WMS tallied seven of the next 10 points to tie the score at 39-39 before Fields converted three-of-four free throws to stake Lewisburg to a 42-39 lead.

After Armstrong made two fouls shots to whittle the deficit to 42-41, the Tigers missed two free throws and committed a turnover on their next two possessions.

Following a timeout, Lewisburg appeared to have Whitthorne's play defended well before Armstrong drained a fade away three-pointer from the left wing to put WMS up 44-42 with :06 left.

"I thought we played that last defensive possession well. We took away the passing lane and almost got a five second call, but he hit a tough shot," said Lovell.

The Tigers then threw the ball away on their final possession before Whitthorne inbounded the ball and ran the remaining time off the clock to secure the win.