CONWAY — Just as it had done in its previous game, Fayetteville's boys basketball team found a way to make a second-half comeback Saturday night.
Getting past an undefeated Jonesboro team, however, proved to be impossible.
The Golden Hurricane handed the Purple'Dogs their first loss of the season with a 15-5 run to close out the game and won the Joe Stanton Wampus Cat Invitational title with a 58-48 decision in Buzz Bolding Arena.
Sophomore guard Kahron Ross scored six of his 13 points in Jonesboro's closing outburst, including a free throw that put the Golden Hurricane (8-0) ahead to stay with 5 minutes, 33 seconds remaining.
"We missed some key free throws down the stretch," Fayetteville coach Kyle Adams said. "They're a good basketball team, and I was proud of how we came back in the second half.
"All in all, we got beat by a quality basketball team. Our kids competed their tails off, so I have no regrets."
Fayetteville (6-1) trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half and was behind 38-26 after Jacon Gibson's 3-pointer with 5:55 remaining in the third quarter. The Purple'Dogs then rallied and scored the last five points of the quarter to make it a 43-38 game with eight minutes to play.
Caleb Waitsman opened the fourth quarter with a bucket, and Malik Fields' three-point play tied the game at 43 with 5:46 remaining. Ross then gave Jonesboro the lead for good with his free throw 13 seconds later.
"Kahron did a great job of controlling the game at the end," Jonesboro coach Wes Swift said. "He's just a sophomore and, yeah, we put the ball in his hands in key situations. We're going to do that all year long."
Fayetteville did have a chance to take the lead, but Fields missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity at the 5:17 mark. Golden, who hit five 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 21 points, was fouled on the rebound and hit two free throws to give Jonesboro a 46-43 cushion.
The Golden Hurricane hit 10 of 14 from the line during the final stretch, and the Purple'Dogs couldn't get any closer than one the rest of the way.
"It was just one of those nights when we didn't have our legs and didn't shoot as well as normally do," Adams said. "That will change, and that's a great learning experience for our kids. We're still young, with a lot of juniors playing."
Fields was the only Fayetteville player in double figures with 20 points.