Valiant 4th Quarter Comeback Attempt by the Bulldogs Not Enough to Steal a Victory
- RoMoAthletics
- Jan 31
- 5 min read
January 30th, 2026
The Battle Spartans out of Columbia,Mo rolled into town on a cold Friday evening bringing their long range artillery. The barrage of 3-point shots by the Spartans over the first 3 periods (11 for 27) subsided in the final period as they failed to connect from deep on 6 attempts.
The Bulldogs emptied their arsenal in the 4th quarter battling back from being down 25 points at the start of the quarter and down 20 with 4:50 left in the game to close the margin to 4 points. Alas, the Bulldogs ran out of time and fell for their second defeat in 3 days, 77 to 83.
Searching for a Complete Game
In last year’s match-up of Class 6 teams at Battle High School, it was a fast start by the Spartans that put the Bulldogs on their heels in the first half trailing by 19 points and as much as 23 points in the 3rd quarter. The Bulldogs found their rhythm in the 2nd half, fueled by Cooper Gideon’s 6 - 3 pointers off the bench to not only close the gap but take the lead and complete a 73-65 comeback.
A competitive first quarter where neither team could get on track was different to last year’s blistering start by the Spartans. A defensive stop with 40 seconds left to play in the first quarter allowed the Bulldogs to hold for the final shot, trailing 13-14.
Putting the ball in the hands of 2x All-State Sr Guard, Ethan Brown, they let the clock wind down to 5 seconds before he attacked the Battle zone defense. The penetration by Brown forced the defense to collapse and he executed a jump pass to 6’7” Sr forward Paxton Ledbetter, who caught the ball, drop-stepped and threw down a thunderous two-hand dunk to put the Bulldogs back on top heading into quarter 2, 15-14.
Battle unleashed their long range weapons to start the 2nd quarter going 9 for 18 from behind the arc in the 2nd and 3rd quarters as they built their lead. The Spartans were able to use the threat of the deep shots to set up drives to the basket as they connected at a high rate from the field.
Those two quarters were the defining moments of the game for both teams. They shot 65% overall in that 16 minutes, while only shooting 32% overall in the first and last quarters. Contrast that to the Bulldogs who shot 42% overall all in the middle part of the game, and only 25% from 3, and struggled at the line only hitting on 6 of 10 attempts.
Facing an Uphill Battle
Rolla trailed 45-70 heading into the 4th quarter as once again the Bulldogs' struggle to rebound came back to haunt them. On the last possession of the 3rd period, Battle was able to get back-to-back offensive rebounds on the same possessions which resulted in a tip-in before the horn sounded.
In the 4th quarter, the Bulldogs gave up four 3pt shot attempts on a single possession as the Spartans pulled in four offensive rebounds. But luck was on the Bulldogs side for that moment as they were not able to convert.
The Bulldogs chipped away at the lead as they came out in the final stanza with some much-needed intensity on defense. Creating steals, forcing steals and converting in transition allowed 6’2” Sr guard Jenson Thomas and 6’1” Sr guard Landen Richter to get out in transition.
Down 20 with 4:50 left in the game, a Brown rebound led to a 94 foot assist to 6’0” Sr guard Jalen Forbis on the runout to trigger the last push. 6’4” Sr guard Cooper Gideon, who was dealing with soreness after a tumble at DeSmet, didn’t let that slow him down from deep as he connected on 3 of 4 for the evening finishing with 15 points. But it was Gideon’s pull-up jumper with 3:28 left that cut the lead to 61-77.
The Final Run
The Bulldogs continued to ratchet up the defense, resulting in 5 turnovers and snagging 3 steals in the quarter. With 1:24 left to play and trailing 70 to 77, Brown was fouled shooting a three. Brown, shooting 86% from the line on the season, uncharacteristically missed multiple free throws earlier in the game, but he connected on all three, cutting the Battle lead to four, 73 to 77.
Down two possessions, with 1:10 left, the Spartans were able to find an opening in the scrambling Bulldog press to hit a cutter for a layup to finally stop the 28-7 Bulldog run. After a Bulldog miss and then a blocked shot, the Bulldogs were forced to foul. Battle went 1 for 2 at the line making the score 80 to 73, Battle. On the next possession, the Bulldogs had an apparent inside bucket by Thomas waved off with a quick jump ball whistle. As Battle pushed the ball up the court, another quick whistle signalling another tie-up gave it back to the Bulldogs with 29.5 seconds left in the game and trailing 73 to 80.
A Battle foul, resulted in a baseline inbound play for the Bulldogs, where Brown found Richter for a driving layup to cut the lead down to 5. The Bulldogs used their last timeout trailing 75-80 with 15 seconds left in the game. Battle hit both of their free throws as the Bulldogs were forced to foul. On the inbounds, Brown went coast to coast and scored a layup with 8 seconds left. With no timeouts available, Richter grabbed the ball as it went through the net and threw it into the corner out of play. The referees were forced to blow the whistle and call a delay of game warning on the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs set up their defense and without getting a steal, were again forced to foul where Battle hit 1 of 2 free throws. The last second shot for the Bulldogs was off the mark and the Bulldogs dropped their second in a row, 77 to 83.
The Wrap Up
The Bulldogs, who shoot 76% from the line on the season, only hit 11 of 17 free throws in the game. The Bulldogs lost the battle from behind the arc as Battle went 11 of 33 on the evening. Rolla outscored Battle in the paint 42-36, but once again lost the rebounding war 26-36 being out rebounded by 4 on the offensive glass. The Bulldogs were able to force 12 turnovers
The Bulldogs will enjoy a week off to get healthy and regroup before heading down highway 63 to take on former Ozark Conference rival, West Plains Zizzers on February the 6th.
Next Up
West Plains Zizzers (7-10) on Friday February 6th
Last season was a 88-46 win for the Bulldogs at home
Rolla holds the history edge, 16-3 and has won the last 6 games.
Rolla is averaging 70.9 PPG vs West Plains at 58.8 PPG
Rolla’s defense is allowing 52.9 PA while West Plains is at 64.1 PA
Common Opponent
Camdenton: Rolla W(67-34), West Plains W(68-52)
STATS Rolla 77, Battle 83
The individual scoring (FG-FT-TP):
Rolla (16-4): Thomas 6-0-13, Richter 5-2-12, Forbis 1-0-2, Gideon 5-0-15, Ledbetter 3-1-8, Brown 9-8-27
Battle (13-7): Kemp 2-0-4, Rooks 9-3-26, Laboy 7-2-18, Lofton 0-1-1, Lewis 8-2-18, Horsley 1-0-3, Putnam 4-2-13
The score by periods:
TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 F
Rolla 15 16 14 32 77
Battle 14 26 30 13 83
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