The Westminster Owls have been going through some tough times this season and things didn't get any better last night against visiting Quince Orchard.
The Owls (0-5) squandered an early double-digit lead and then saw their comeback bid fall short in losing 45-41 to the Cougars.
It all unraveled midway through the third quarter.
With their once 14-point lead down to six at 27-21 with 3:25 left in the quarter, the Owls had possession of the ball when guard Eric Moreau was called for a dead-ball foul -- an automatic technical foul on coach Dave Byers and a loss of possession.
Lamont Ellis (game-high 20 points) hit the two free throws and scored on a leaner to cut the Westminster lead to 27-25.
Byers was called for another technical foul after leaving the bench to shout defensive instructions to his team about a minute later (after the first technical, a coach is restricted to the bench).
Ellis hit two more free throws to tie the score at 27 and Kenny Matthews then gave the Cougars their first lead with a jumper.
"It's hard after standing up for 24 years. My players were downcourt and I was just calling out defensive instructions -- it's just reflex," Byers said.
The Cougars (4-1) never trailed again, building up a seven-point lead midway through the fourth quarter before Westminster's Mark Loscomb made it exciting late with a pair of three-point plays in the final minute to get the Owls within 43-41. But Matthews hit three key free throws late to preserve the win.
"Tonight, I thought we played well enough to win in stretches, but didn't take advantage of our early lead," said Byers.
Westminster's 15-3 lead after one quarter was largely due to some poor shooting by Quince Orchard.
The Cougars came out cold, missing their first 14 shots from the field before Ellis finally hit a short running jumper with 1:03 left in the quarter.
"We should have had more there," Byers said. "When you're struggling, those kind of things happen."
Quince Orchard regrouped late in the second quarter and cut the deficit to 23-15 at the half.