By JIM WALKER

Tribune Sports Editor

SOUTH POINT — Blaine Fuller came up big, Evan Salyers came up bigger, and the Fairland Dragons got a big Ohio Valley Conference win.

Salyers and Fuller dominated inside as Fairland pulled away to beat the South Point Pointers 69-59 Friday to stay one game behind first place Chesapeake.

Salyers had 26 points and 15 rebounds while Fuller finished with 15 points and 10 boards as Fairland improved to 9-5 and 4-1 in the OVC.

“Our defensive effort was great. We contested every shot. Our intensity was up,” said Fairland coach Nathan Speed. “We just went to the ball.”

The smaller Pointers couldn’t match the Dragons inside game. Fairland score 45 points in the paint and controlled the boards 54-17.

Making matters worse for the Pointers was their long-range shooting. Although they hit 48.7 percent from 2-point range, they were only 3 of 27 from behind the 3-point arc.

“We knew going in that they would be hard for us to stop inside,” said Pointers’ coach Chris Barnes. “We knew we had to shoot the ball well to have a chance.”

A big turning point came in the second quarter with the Pointers leading by six when a scuffle broke out and the Pointers’ center Mike Leighty was ejected.

“That was a turning point. We never got the momentum back after that,” said Barnes.

The game was tied 13-all at the end of the first quarter but Salyers got 12 points in the second quarter as Fairland took a 34-30 halftime lead.

The Dragons were up 49-42 at the end of the third quarter only to have South Point begin to close the gap as Tevin Mitchell scored seven points in the fourth quarter.

But Fairland converted 7 of 9 from the foul line — Jonathan Holbrook and Fuller each went 3 for 4 — to pull away and seal the win.

Holbrook had nine points and 10 rebounds. Evan Maddox had five assists after he came off the bench in the first half when point guard Chad Fisher left the game with an ankle injury.

“Maddox is just a freshman and he did a great job filling in when Chad went out,” said Speed.

Mitchell finished with 16 points and five rebounds for the Pointers (6-8, 4-3) while Blake Barnes had 16 points, five assists and four rebounds. Kyle Winkler added 11 points.

Fairland 13 21 15 20 = 69

South Point 13 17 12 17 = 59

FAIRLAND (9-5, 4-1): Jon Baise 1 0 0-0 2, Chad Fisher 1 0 2-2 4, Alec Warner 0 0 0-0 0, Eric Riley 1 0 1-2 3, Blaine Fuller 3 1 6-8 15, Jonathan Holbrook 3 0 3-4 9, Matt Campbell 2 0 0-0 4, Evan Salyers 9 0 8-8 26, Evan Maddox 3 0 0-1 6. Totals: 22-55 20-25 69. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 1-7. Rebounds: 54 (Salyers 15, Holbrook 10, Fuller 8, Baise 6, Fisher 6). Assists: 14 (Maddox 5). Turnovers: 15.

SOUTH POINT (6-8, 4-3): Tevin Mitchell 6 0 4-4 16, Austin Jeffreys 1 1 0-0 5, Blake Barnes 6 0 4-5 16, Kyle Winkler 2 1 4-5 11, Brandon Barnes 3 1 0-0 9, Mike Leighty 1 0 0-0 2, Zane Huron 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 22-66 12-14 59. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: None. Ejected: Leighty. 3-point goals: 3-27. Rebounds: 17 (Mitchell 5, Bl. Barnes 4). Assists: 15 (Bl. Barnes 5). Turnovers: 5.