The Red Bank boys' basketball team could not pull away from Howard in the opening quarters, and the Hustlin' Tigers came back to bite in the second half Tuesday night.
Howard nipped visiting Red Bank 64-58 after a back-and-forth District 6-AA battle.
It was Red Bank (9-5, 4-3) getting off to a fast start, scoring 14 straight points after an opening 3-pointer for Howard.
"We had a lot of confidence and execution of our game plan," Lions coach Nick Fike said. "We executed as a team."
Brandon Jones helped Red Bank to its lead with his 11 first-quarter points. He finished with a game-high 18.
The Hustlin' Tigers, as they would all game, clawed back and closed the quarter strong to make it a 16-13 deficit.
Red Bank again looked to pull away with a 6-2 run to start the second quarter, but Howard continued to fight back, and when the halftime buzzer sounded, the teams were knotted at 29-all.
"We're just a team," Howard coach James Talley said. "That's our motto, 'Fight until we can't fight no more.' The game isn't over until the final buzzer."
Howard (10-3, 6-1) hung around and got the spark it needed when Demetrius Bowens got hot from deep.
The Hustlin' Tigers ultimately took their first lead since the opening bucket at 39-37.
The Lions quickly took it back, but Bowens put his team out front again with his second triple of the quarter.
"He's so young that sometimes you have to settle him down," Talley said. "That's why we told him at halftime to stop rushing his shot and step into it. I don't think there's a better shooter in the city. He just has to stay humble and work on his game."
Bowens made four 3s in the second half and totaled 16 points.
Howard had a 47-44 lead heading into the fourth quarter and never gave it back.
Though the Hustlin' Tigers led by as many as eight, the Lions came back to within two with 1:53 to play. However, a score and two free throws stretched the lead back to six with under a minute to play to seal the game.
"Execution, execution, execution and execution," Fike said of what made the difference down the stretch.
Tory Sewell had a nice second half for Red Bank and finished with 15 points, and Lucas Brown added 11.
For Howard, Marquez Williams scored 12 points and Reuben Snow had 10.
Contact Idris Garcia at sports@timesfreepress.com.