A strong second half effort lifted the Andalusia Bulldogs over the Red Level Tigers 71-42 in the opening round of the 48th annual Andalusia Invitational tournament Thursday night.

The Tigers came out of the gate strong, and were on top of the Bulldogs 17-13 after the first period. The Tigers shot well from behind the arc, with Devon Dexter and Hunter Carpenter nailing one each.  After falling behind early, the Bulldogs got help from B.J Anderson, who made a very athletic layup look easy.

In the second, the Bulldogs began finding their groove. The Bulldogs tied the game up at 17-17 before Carpenter connected from deep again to put the Tigers up 20-17. Devante Jackson answered right back with a 3-pointer of his own, knotting the score up at 20-20. The Bulldogs went on a 6-0 run after that to take a 26-20 lead with just over three minutes left in the first half. At halftime, the Bulldogs were out front 28-24.

The Bulldogs came out after halftime firing on all cylinders. Anderson had 7 points in the third. Several Bulldogs had 4 points in the period. Dameyune Scott had 6 points for the Tigers, including a 3-pointer. At the end of the third period the Bulldogs led 51-35.

The Bulldogs continued to spread the love in the final period, with eight different players scoring. The Bulldogs put up 21 points over the final period to give them a 71-42 win. The Tigers struggled from the floor in fourth, only hitting one shot. The Tigers did shoot well from the free throw line with a 7-for-10 effort in the final period.

The Bulldogs were led in scoring by Anderson and Jackson, who notched 14 points each. Jamal Hourel finished the night with 12 points.

The Tigers’ leading scorer was Scott with 12 points. Hunter Carpenter totaled 10 points for the Tigers.

“The kids played hard, but we gave up too many second and third chance opportunities,” Tigers’ head coach Allen Catrett said. “We had too many turnovers. We need to play all four quarters like we did the first.”

Red Level will be back in action at 5:30 p.m. against the Brantley Bulldogs. Andalusia will tip-off at 8:30 p.m. against the Elba Tigers in the semi-finals.