The Jaguars jumped on the Bengals early, opening the game with a 20-7 run and taking a 27-14 lead into halftime. But after the break, Athens did not resemble the team from the first two quarters.

“We lose our focus sometimes when have the lead at halftime, and that’s what happened here,” Jags coach Robert Clemons said. “When you’re as young and inexperienced as we are you’re going to lose focus sometimes. Finishing a game is new to most of these guys and that’s what we’re trying to learn.”

One of those youngsters, freshman guard Hurley Cannady and his senior backcourt mate Rahim Jenkins were major contributors to AthensÂ’ effective first half. When the offense stalled, one of the two would drive to the basket and either score or find an open teammate for an easy bucket.

Jenkins would finish with a team-high 15 points, while Cannady added 12 of his own.

“Hurley’s basketball IQ is higher than some of the older guys,” Clemons said. “He’s a special freshman. Rahim, he’s our leader. He’s the one we count on. And when Hurley is playing well too, it just adds to what we can do as a basketball team.”

Fuquay’s start to the third quarter resembled the Jags’ to open the game. The Bengals (8-13, 4-10) cut Athens’ lead to six midway through the quarter and only trailed 36-28 heading into the fourth – mostly on the shoulders of center Dominique Byrd, who led all scorers with 18.

Byrd, a junior, is averaging just above 10 points and 10 rebounds this year. He has more than 500 of each in his career.

“[Byrd] is athletic,” Clemons said. “He’s a good ballplayer. We knew he would score. It wasn’t like we thought we could hold him to five points or anything like that. We know how good he is and he gave us trouble.”

But as good as Byrd was, Fuquay couldnÂ’t quite close the gap and resorted to fouling late to try and get back into the game. Unfortunately for the Bengals, the Jags made the most of their opportunities as the charity stripe to pull away at the end.

With the win, Athens (9-10, 6-7) tightened its grip on the Tri-Nine conference’s fifth and final playoff spot. The Jags’ now sit two games in front of the bottom four teams in the league with three remaining – two of which are road games at first-place Apex and third-place Panther Creek.

“This was a very important win for us,” Jenkins said. “We’ve got tough games coming up next week and getting a win like this was big. It’ll help prepare us for those games next week.”