It was the best of times, it was the worst of times – a tale of two halves.

The Bulldogs could do little wrong before the break at The Sports Complex on Tuesday night, building up a comfortable 41-23 lead with just two minutes left in the half. By the time the game was over, however, it was Fulton with the edge, 64-61.

“We were giving them second chances, third chances,” Daeye Miller said. “We played into their game.”

Everyone anticipated a tight contest going into the match. At the beginning of January in Fulton, the Bulldogs eked out an overtime win. Throughout the first and into the second quarter it played out to expectations, with both sides trading back and forth blows.

It was 20-20 with a minute gone in the second period. And it didn’t look as if Drew Blevins’ three at the 6:48 mark would sway things. Nor did it when Raef Yager followed up with a three of his own for a 6 point cushion.

But after a wild scramble to control the ball, Blevins secured it eight feet from the basket. Instead of shooting, he whipped it out to Yager, lurking in three point land.

The Mexico senior converted. Jordan Mitchell sank a pair of free throws. Blevins bounced a pass to Miller in the paint. And suddenly it was 33-20 in favor of the Bulldogs.

Things would get worse for their guests.

Miller rolled in two more lay ups, first with an assist from Isaiah Reams, the next aided by Yager. Reams scored on a fast break and again from the line to complete a 21-3 Bulldogs outburst.

It was now a Mexico runaway, 41-23.

“We were playing so well,” Blevins observed. “They just got scrappier than us.”

Fulton’s Courtland Simmons had kept the Hornets even in the early going and would lead all scorers in the game with 20. But the comeback started inauspiciously with a lay in by Rowdy Gohring and a pair of free throws by Cameron Bennett – and it appeared to be just a blip.

Reams tossed in one from the line and Michael White hit a put back. When Fulton tried to nip into the gap, Ty Prince took on a charging Donovan Weigel to stop the advance.

The tone of the game turned just as the buzzer sounded. The Hornets missed a last second jumper and the Bulldogs turned toward the locker room. But the ball had bounded to Fulton’s Bennett, who just beat the horn.

It was 44-31, still in favor of Mexico. But the Bulldogs could net only 17 the rest of the way.

“We just went cold,” head coach Darren Pappas noted. “We didn’t hit shots.”

Miller scored 9 in the first half, but was blanked in the second. Reams went 8 and 4, Blevins 5 to 2. Yager, who had a torrid first with 12 points, banked just 6 after the break.

“I needed to see myself hitting a shot,” he said. “I wasn’t hitting anything.”

The trouble wasn’t apparent right away. Yager sank a three from a Mitchell kick out. Reams drained another and Yager found Blevins in the paint with a clever pass. At 52-40, the game still seemed secure.

But it kept slipping away.

Simmons continued to pace the Hornets, but players who had been silent in the first half – A.J. Henderson, Colby Lancaster, Weigel – began to do damage. And Fulton began to dominate under the glass.

“They just outrebounded us in the second half,” Pappas said.

Fulton edged ahead 57-55 with 5:53 remaining in the game. But the Bulldogs still had fight in them – on both sides of the floor.

Yager found his touch from three point range one last time to regain the lead. Rebounds by Yager, Miller, Blevins and Mitchell kept Fulton off the board for three tense minutes.

When Hornets forward Java Galbreath brought them even with 2:52 to go, Reams grabbed the ball after Fulton’s Josh Reams misfired and took it coast to coast.

It was 61-59 for Mexico with under two minutes to play. But Weigel and Reams scored to put Fulton back on top, 63-61.

The final minute was full of frantic chances for both sides. The Bulldogs trapped in the front court, forcing Fulton to use their last timeout. The Hornets’ Reams missed. Yager rebounded, but Mexico couldn’t capitalize.

Forced to foul, the Bulldogs got a break when Simmons hit just one of two. Seven seconds on the clock and the game was still in reach.

Pappas put Peyton Willer on the court, giving the Bulldogs four potential three point threats.

Miller grabbed a board with just a few ticks left. Mexico raced down court and got the final shot, but it didn’t fall.

“We just have to learn from it,” Pappas said.

It was senior night in Mexico. Pappas took the opportunity to start all four – Yager, Mitchell, Prince and Dante Billups.

The Bulldogs are 14-2.