Andalusia’s Bulldogs nearly blew a 21-point lead in the second half, but hung on to defeat Monroe County, 78-65, in Andalusia on Tuesday night.

Andalusia (4-1) led 50-31 early in the third quarter, but the visitors came storming back and trailed just 59-54 after Grant White hit a free throw with 6:27 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs still trailed by five points when Monroe County’s Johnathan Johnson was called for both a personal and a technical foul with 5:39 left. Andalusia’s O’Brien Curry hit all four of the free throws, and the Bulldogs were able to pull away late.

Andalusia coach Richard Robertson was disappointed with his team’s play in the second half.

“Right now, we don’t have someone who will step up and be a floor leader,” he said. “We’ve been playing like this all season; we get out to a big lead and then we let the other team back in it. It’s frustrating, because we worked on this over the Thanksgiving break, and we talk about it every meeting, but then we get out there on the court in a game and keep making the same mistakes.”

Robertson added that although the Bulldogs won Tuesday night, that is not enough for him.

“I know that for the fans, they just see whether you win or lose the game,” he said. “But for me, I want to win the right way. When you’ve got a team down, you’ve got to put them away, but instead we let them right back in it.

“In the past, we’d have a guy who would tell everyone what’s going on and where they need to be on the court. We don’t have that this year, but we’re still looking.”

Robertson was pleased with his team’s free throw shooting, particularly late in the game. The Bulldogs were 13-of-16 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.

“Late in the game, we know where the ball needs to go and where our good free throw shooters are,” he said. “We want to get the ball to the inside so we can get a possibility of a foul and free throws.”

Four Bulldogs finished in double figures. Jacard Townsend had a game-high 28 points, Jamal Curry finished with 20, Quayshaun Denson had 13 and Justin Dooley finished with 10.

White led the Tigers with 15 points.

Andalusia’s next game will be at home against Pleasant Home on Thursday night.

Andalusia girls 43, Monroe County girls 13

Andalusia broke out to an 11-0 lead before Monroe County even reached the scoreboard as the Lady Bulldogs cruised to an easy 43-13 win. Andalusia led 24-6 at halftime and 35-9 after three quarters.

Erica King led Andalusia with nine points, and Shi’Amber Townsend and Emily Dooley each had six.