The Bulldogs made a run late on Gary Filbert Court on Monday.

The Harrisburg Bulldogs were the ones threatening Mexico’s lead in the fourth quarter, but Mexico held on for the 46-44 victory. Mexico (7-2) allowed two points in the third quarter to go into the fourth quarter with a 40-27 lead.

Head coach Darren Pappas said Mexico made enough “effort plays” to secure the win despite Harrisburg (2-5) outscoring the Bulldogs 17-6 in the fourth quarter. Pappas was impressed with senior Kinser Groves — who finished with seven points, nine rebounds and four steals — “leaving everything out there” by making a couple key rebounds.

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“He’s going to be outsized, but he’s going to give you everything he’s got,” Pappas said. “We have to have other guys match that — that energy and that effort.”

Pappas said he wants “a solid 32 minutes” because Mexico started out hot with a 19-9 first quarter but led 29-25 at halftime and then withstood a strong Harrisburg fourth quarter. For the second straight game, Mexico beat a team by two points and won its third straight game by single digits. 

In the fourth quarter, Pappas said Mexico turned the ball over too frequently and allowed easy transition buckets. Harrisburg also picked up key offensive rebounds to claw back in the game.

“In the last two games, we’ve let teams hang around and you can’t do that, especially against Harrisburg,” Pappas said. “(Kyle Fisher’s) guys are always going to give everything they’ve got.”

Charlie Fisher led Mexico with 13 points, three 3-pointers and two blocks, James Matthews followed with 10 points, Brady Thoenen had eight points. All of Fisher’s 3-pointers happened in the first half, including a buzzer beater to close the first quarter.

“We had a big enough lead going into the fourth quarter,” Fisher said. “We did our work early, but we’ve got to be better at finishing games and keeping our leads. When it mattered most, we got it done.”

Fisher’s two blocks preceded a couple of buckets on the other end for Mexico after some fastbreaks. He was in the right position to make those plays in what turned into a tight game.

“I’ve been playing for a long time so it’s natural instinct,” Fisher said. “We all know where we’re going to be. You always want to put yourself in positions to make those plays. The coaches do a really good job of getting us in those positions on defense, so when the opportunity comes, we’re in the right place.”

Pappas said those blocked shots are good examples of “effort plays” that fuel Mexico’s transition offense. He said he saw that during the third quarter along with lockdown defense.

“We were just sitting down and guarding,” Pappas said. “We were executing the offensive end by taking what they gave us and letting some of our defense generate some of our offense by getting deflections, steals and runouts in transition. That’s when we’re at our best.”

Mexico begins the Rolla holiday tournament at 2:30 p.m. Friday against Rolla JV at Missouri S&T. The games take place over three days at the college and at Rolla High School.

Fisher said the Rolla tournament is going to be a tough challenge, as was the case in previous years, so Mexico needs to be better than the two games. He said it is “rough” not having senior guard Kaden Benne, who has been injured, but the team is “putting things together.”

Pappas said Mexico needs to control the boards and not be “stagnant” on offense while running its plays and not forcing up shots. He said the Rolla tournament competition “never” is an easy tournament. 

“Rolla is a much bigger team than what we saw tonight, heightwise,” Pappas said. “Even though it’s their JV, they’re a big team. We have to do a better job to take care of the first one and learn from tonight’s mistakes.”