In a workman-like fashion, the Tigers got out to a good lead and weathered one scoring run of Mt. Vernon (IN.) in a 63-39 win at the Carmi-White County Invitational Tournament on Tuesday night.

Olney improved its mark in the event to 2-0 (17-2 overall) with the win while the Wildcats saw their mark dip to 1-1 in the tournament and 3-9 overall.

Olney used a 15-2 first quarter sprint to get separation and pulled away late in the game for the victory.

The Tigers were topped by 6-foot-3 senior forward Michael Fehrenbacher with 21-points while teammates Joel Eagleson and Brook Pampe chipped home 17 and 16 respectively.

Olney was very good around the basket offensively, connection on 15-of-23 2-point shots while holding Mt. Vernon (IN.) down (14-of-44 overall) on the defensive end.

“I don't want to take anything away from a win, especially this time of the year. We are kind of in that 'dog days' stretch and this is a long week. We played a pretty physical game last Friday and we will play six games in nine days,” said Coach Flanagan. “This wasn't a Rembrandt or a masterpiece but we'll take it.”

Pampe, a 6-foot senior guard for Olney, got the Tigers going in the first quarter as he scored 10 of those 15 points as Coach Flanagan's team turned a 4-1 deficit into a 16-6 lead.

He nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the arc and closed the sprint with a drive to the basket on a steal and fast break.

A baseline drive by Fehrenbacher closed the frame with Olney up 18-9.

Seven of Mt. Vernon's 15-turnovers came in the first half and the Tigers took advantage.

Another steal and fast break lay in by Pampe and yet another Fehrenbacher drive to the goal resulted in a 25-14 lead with 1:57 left before the half.

The Wildcats best move of the night came at the end of the second quarter and the beginning of the third.

Trailing by 11-points, Mt. Vernon outgunned the Tigers 9-2 to close to within 29-25 on a fast break basket by Bryce Newman and a 3-point bomb by Brian Koch.

However Olney turned that lead into double-digits again in the next minute and a half of play with Fehrenbacher scoring twice in the paint, the second shot while being fouled by Tyler Ritzert.

His three point play and a fast break by Eagleson put the 'Cats up 38-27 with 4:31 remaining in the third.

Olney closed the door with a 7-0 scoring burst to finish the frame.

Eagleson nailed another trifecta and (following a 1-of-2 free throw trip by Alec St. Pierre) Fehrenbacher was fouled by Mt. Vernon's Troy Paris while attempting a 3-pointer with :01.7 left.

Fehrenbacher calmly drained all three free throw attempts for a 48-34 lead at the end of the third.

The Tigers hit 9-of-13 free throws in the fourth quarter and Fehrenbacher put an exclamation point on the win with a steal and fast break two-handed slam that pushed the lead to 56-37 with 3:18 to go.

Mt. Vernon (IN.) was led by Koch with 10-points while Collin Varner added six.

The Wildcats sent Olney to the foul line way too many times and the Tigers said “thank you” by converting 27-of-36 from the stripe.

The Tigers were credited with 11-steals with Pampe swiping five of those pilfers.

“Fehrenbacher is playing great for us right now but I thought we made some mistakes defensively around the basket,” added Coach Flanagan. “There isn't a lot of practice time right now because we are playing so many games. It is kind of a 'Catch 22' sort of thing. You want to stay sharp timing-wise (playing games) but you also need your legs (rest) so I'm not sure anyone has mastered the formula of peaking at the end of the year.”

Both teams head back to action in the round-robin event on Thursday night with Olney taking on the host Bulldogs at 7:00 pm while Mt. Vernon will hook up with Fairfield at 8:30 pm.

Coach Scott McElravy's club survived a fourth quarter challenge to keep their slim tournament title chance alive behind 19-points from Tyler Hutcheson and 15-points from Colton Slover.

Eduaro Ferrari added 10-points for the Mules who were outscored 20-12 in the fourth quarter but managed to hang on for the victory.

Mount Carmel saw their mark slip to 3-13 on the season and 0-2 in the tournament with the defeat, despite 23-points from sophomore guard Reece Metcalf and 16-points from Nathaniel Wagner.