Auburn traveled to Bland County for the first round game of the Mountain Empire District and held off the Bears 51-50. Auburn went ahead on an Ethan Millirons deep three from the corner with 59 seconds remaining.
Bland would miss a shot with seven seconds left, but got the rebound and called timeout. Drew Hoge would then drive in the lane and bounced a pass to Corey Harden. However, Millirons would knock the pass away as the buzzer sounded.
Auburn (3-1) was led by Millirons. The reigning Class 1 State Player of the Year had 13 points. Michael Royal added 12 points and eight boards. Daniel Brotherton chipped in with nine points and six rebounds. Rusty Marshall contributed eight points and four rebounds in the victory.
Bland's Bears (6-5) got 15 points from Trey Compton and another 13 points from Drew Hoge. Dylan Havens knocked down a trio of three-pointers for nine points. After the first quarter, Bland led 17-13 and then went on a 9-0 run to go up 27-13 before the Eagles would score in the second quarter. By intermission, the Bears ballooned their advantage to 33-20.
Auburn would come out hot in the third period as they went on a 12-0 run to cut their deficit to one at 33-32. They would start the fourth quarter down 41-36, but would outscore the Bears 15-9 in the stanza, limiting Bland to a mere four points in the final 4:30 of regulation.
Additionally, the Eagles held Bland to just 17 points after intermission, while scoring 31. Auburn used 11 players in the game compared to just seven for Bland, which seemed to get worn down to a degree from the depth of the reigning Class 1 Champs, who shared the crown last winter with Mathews.
Inside the Numbers:
Auburn - 13, 7, 16, 15 =51
Bland County -17, 16, 8, 9 = 50
Scoring - Auburn- E. Millirons 13, Royal 12, Marshall 6, Brotherton 9, Reese 6.Rutledge 3, Sutphin 2
Bland County - Hoge 13, Havens 9, Compton 15, Russo 3, Harden 6, Parker 4
3-PT. Goals - Auburn - 4 (Millirons 2, Royal, Rutledge), Bland - 8 (Havens 3, Hoge 2, Compton 3)
Total FG's - Auburn 20, Bland - 18
FT's - Auburn - 7-16, Bland Co - 6-8
Total Fouls - Auburn- 11, Bland Co - 14
Fouled Out - None
