By Greg Sullivan
Sports Editor

Friday night was a game as spurts. Unfortunately for Morgan County, the last of the spurts was small one by North Oconee.
The Titans led by five with less than six minutes left in the game when the Bulldogs scrambled to tie things up at 53-53 with 3:58 left on an old-fashioned three point play by D.J. Calhoun, but the Dogs couldn't finish their comeback as the Titans snuck out of Madison with a 62-58 region win after hitting just enough free throws to ice the game.
The Dogs had beaten the Titans a couple weeks before in Bogart, but Friday they weren't able to match the feat.
"They were definitely a more confident team than when we saw them the last time," said Bulldog Head Coach Charlemagne Gibbons. "But we've been inconsistent."
"We just didn't execute very well."
After starting off 5-0 in region play, the loss marked the Dogs' second straight, lowering their record to 5-2. A mark that would fall to 5-3 after Saturday.
"They got loose balls and second shots," Gibbons said.
The Bulldogs jumped out to an 8-2 lead open the game before North Oconee answered with a 13-2 run of their own to go up 15-10 late in the first quarter. At half-time the Titans led 32-24.
Calhoun led the Dogs in the loss with 17 points. C.J. Benford had 12 and Jamil Hodnett added nine.

Saturday: Putnam 76 Morgan 65

The Dogs lost their third straight region game Saturday at Putnam 76-65, and it was their third in a row against a team they'd previously beaten.
Leading 11-9 going into the second quarter, the Bulldogs watched the War Eagles rattle off 29 second quarter points to take a 38-21 lead over the Dogs by half-time.
Gibbons said the second quarter meltdown was caused by the team not being over Friday's close loss.
"Putnam did play well," Gibbons said. "We just felt sorry for ourselves."
"It was more turnovers and poor shot selection and giving them second shots."
The Bulldogs scored their share of points in the second half, but it wasn't enough to close the early deficit.
The Dogs were led by Jarvis Hardy with 18 points. Calhoun had 14, Benford had 8. DeAngelo Elder and Rashaun Franklin each added seven points.
At 5-3 in the region going into Tuesday's game at Washington-Wilkes, the Dogs will be at home again Friday when they host Oglethorpe for Senior Night. These final two games will go a long way into determining tournament seeding in a wide open Region 8-AA.