MANSFIELD — Logan Toms and his Lucas teammates aren’t ready to relinquish the throne just yet.
A 6-foot-2 senior guard, Toms scored 14 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter as the Cubs rallied 64-62 win over Mansfield Christian in a Mid-Buckeye Conference showdown at The Furnace.
Lucas (8-1, 4-0) has won five straight MBC crowns and is a combined 48-2 in conference play since the streak began. The Flames (6-3, 3-1) have dropped 15 straight to Lucas since their last win in February of 2017.
Toms left the game early in the second quarter after re-aggravating an ankle injury suffered in the lead-up to last week’s 61-41 loss at Galion, Lucas’ first setback of the season. In his absence, MCS scored 14 unanswered points to turn a 16-12 deficit into a 26-16 advantage midway through the period.
“Last Thursday I rolled it in practice and we played Galion the following day,” Toms said. “That game was pretty bad overall as a team so we kind of knew we needed to come into this one with more focus.
“I’d say (the ankle) is at 65 percent but I think it will get better. It will be good.”
Lucas trailed 31-24 at the half and 40-30 after a corner 3-pointer by MCS’s Brock Rentzel with 2:59 remaining in the third before mounting its comeback.
The Cubs trailed 48-41 going to the fourth quarter, but Mansfield Christian senior standout Amarr Davis was whistled for a questionable charge, his fourth foul, with 7:17 remaining. In Davis’ absence, Lucas went on an 11-4 run and pulled even on a Toms 3-pointer with 6:02 to play.
“I knew it was going to be tough, the way they pressure,” Lucas coach Taylor Iceman said. “We talked a little bit before about Logan having that killer mentality and I think he kind of drove the message home. He was going to try to come out and make a point tonight and he was definitely assertive.”
Mansfield Christian took its final lead of the evening at 58-56 on a Davis steal and layup with 1:35 remaining. Aidan Culler split a pair of free throws with 1:28 to play to cut the MCS advantage to 58-57 then gave the Cubs a 59-58 lead on a layup with 1:12 remaining.
That’s when Toms turned in the play of the game. He stole the ball and scored on a run-out layup to give Lucas a 61-58 lead with 48 seconds left.
“Nobody works harder than him. What he does is really hard to do and you can’t get kids to do that,” Iceman said. “For him to do it, being hurt and score 32, that’s a big deal. That’s what makes him special.”
Toms split a pair of free throws with seven seconds left to give the Cubs a 64-62 lead. Davis pushed the ball up the floor and had a clean look at a potential game-winning 3-pointer, but the shot banged off the rim as time expired.
“It was an open look and Amarr has been shooting well from outside,” Mansfield Christian coach Cary Craner said. “You can’t fault him for shooting that. He made a choice and … it didn’t happen.”
Freshman D’Andre Martin led Mansfield Christian with 17 points. Davis had 16 despite battling foul trouble and freshman Davion Mack added 10 before fouling out in the fourth.
Culler backed Toms with 20 points. Zac Winters added seven, all in the second half.
