The Austin Black Bears handed Hartselle their first loss of the season Friday night. The win broke a three-game Tigers’winning streak in the series.

Austin opened the game hitting three 3-pointers in a 13-2 run to grab the early lead. Hartselle fought back with a 12-2 run that included two 3-pointers from Kiah Key to cut the lead to 15-14. The Black Bears’ Kelton Petty hit his third 3-pointer of the quarter to push the Black Bear’s lead to 18-14 at the end of the first.

The Tigers’ opened the second quarter with an 8-5 run to cut the Austin lead to 23-22. The Black bears pushed the lead to 28-22 before a 6-0 Hartselle run tied the game at 28-28. Austin outscored the Tigers 8-6 to grab a 38-36 lead at halftime.

Brody Peebles scored 14 first-half points while Trent Wright added 12 points for Hartselle. Petty led the Black Bears with 16 points, while Cam Collins had 10 points.

Austin opened the third quarter with a 19-9 run to extend their lead to 57-45. Hartselle battled back with a 10-4 run to close out the quarter to cut the Black Bears’ lead to 61-55 heading into the fourth quarter. Seven players had points for Hartselle in the quarter.

The Black Bears outscored the Tigers 12-7 early in the fourth to push their lead out to 73-62. Hartselle continued to battle back as they cut the lead to 75-68 with a 6-2 run. A Peebles’ 3-pointer cut the lead to six with a little over a minute to go. The Black Bears closed out the game hitting six of eight at the free-throw line to secure the 83-75 victory.

Hartselle (8-1) was led by Peebles, who had a game-high 28 points. Wright added a season-high 18 points while Key had 13 points.

Austin (4-5) was led by Petty’s 27 points. Collins added 18 points, while Tre Shackleford netted 16.