“We moved the ball real well in that fourth quarter,” Rincker said. “We got the ball in the middle, found open shooters and made our shots. Hopefully, as the season goes on, we can knock down a few more of those.”

Antrim scored St. Anthony’s first six points and helped the hosts build a 12-7 edge after the first eight minutes. Newton’s Ben Meinhart drilled a three-pointer and also converted a three-point play to keep the Eagles close. But two late threes by Ty Wiedman and a steal and bucket just before the buzzer by Antrim, sent the Bulldogs to the locker room with a 24-18 advantage at intermission.

Neither team shot well in the third period. A bucket by Mick Willenborg at the 1:56 mark put the Bulldogs up 30-25. Neither team scored the remained of the quarter.

“Their zone gave us some fits,” Rincker explained. “I thought if we kept moving the ball, we would eventually open things up and get some good shots. We just didn’t make a lot of them.”

Rincker was happy with his team’s defensive effort.

“Defense is what this program hangs its hat on,” he said. “We just do our thing and try to hold teams down. Our goal is allow 10 or less points a quarter. That’s part of who we are. And today we did that.”

Antrim led the St. Anthony scoring with 18 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter. Nuxoll added 10. The Bulldogs had a commanding 29-14 edge on the boards. Nuxoll, Hotze and Craig Croy each pulled down six.

After shooting just 36 percent through three quarters, the Bulldogs finished at 46 percent, connecting on 23-of-50 shots overall. They were just 2-for-15 from long range and 9-of-15 from the foul line. They committed eight turnovers.

St. Anthony improved to 3-1 overall. The Bulldogs will play three games this week. The first two are National Trail Conference contests – Tuesday at Dieterich; and Friday at home against St. Elmo/Brownstown. The Bulldogs are 1-0 in the league. They will also play at home Saturday against their cross-town rival Effingham.

“We need to keep improving,” Rincker said. “Our defense needs to be better, especially against better opponents; we need to hit the offensive glass and become more consistent with our outside shooting; and we need to play better as a team. We’re still evolving, but it’s early yet.”