MOUNTULLA— There’s a big difference between basketball fans and basketball coaches.

The West Rowan basketball fans who packed the gymnasium Tuesday night left relatively satisfied with a 67-54 victory over East Rowan in a South Piedmont Conference battle.

The West Rowan basketball coach, on the other hand, was anything but satisfied.

For the second straight game, Mike Gurley walked out scratching his head as his team built up a huge second half lead only to watch a lot of it disappear.

This time, a 15-0 run to open the second half put the Falcons up on the much-shorter Mustangs 47-25. Gurley felt good about that.

But from that point, East outscored the Falcons, who appeared as satisfied as the fans, 29-20.

Gurley did not feel good about that.

“Something is missing,” he said of his Falcons, who still improved to 4-0, 2-0. “The 15-0 run was nice because it shows me that we’re achieving what we want. We’re trying to achieve the concept of playing hard all the time. But I feel we get in that comfort zone.

“Iwant us to win the conference and we can’t do that without playing a complete game.”

The reason West won by 13 was because of runs at the beginning of each half.

With the score tied at 3, the Falcons went on a 12-0 spurt, forcing East coach Mark Flynn to call a quick timeout. Senior Tim Mauldin had a basket and two assists in the scoring drive.

The score was 17-5 after a Junior Hairston basket. In other years, the rout would be on. But whether, it was West’s comfort zone or East’s resiliency, the game never got to that point.

And Flynn can thank guard JustinMiller.

The senior sharpshooter always seemed to have the basket to stop the West surges, whether it was a 23-footer or a drive into the lane. His pull-up jumper and two free throws led a 7-0 run to end the first quarter and bring the mustangs within 17-12.

Again, West started strong in the second, racing to a 25-15 lead. Josh Goodnight, Hairston, Vicco Barrnger and Mauldin all scored. And again, Miller brought West back, scoring the last four points of the half for a 32-25 deficit.

“Ifelt good at halftime,” said Flynn. “We have a lot of seniors and we expect to play hard. We knew we were playing one of the best teams in the state on the road but we wanted to win.”

Then came the 15-0 run that brought back memories of all those great Falcon teams of the past. It was impressive.

Donte Minter, who sat most of the first half in foul trouble, started things with a turnaround jumper. Mauldin hit two buckets ,sandwiched around a Phillip Williams steal and layup. Minter hit again and Mauldin drilled a 3-pointer.

“At halftime, we figured the score was closer than it should be,” said Mauldin, who led West with 16. “We felt like we ought to put pressure on them.”

After a Mauldin layup, Williams, a 6-7 sophomore, slammed one home for a 22-point lead.

“I knew they’d have another run but we battled back and hung in there,” Flynn said. “That’s a positive sign.”

Matt Belk, Derek Talbert, Taylor Weber and Miller all had three points in the third to bring East within 54-37 going into the fourth.

While West eased through the last quarter, seven different Mustangs scored.

And East (2-3, 1-2) scored points with Gurley.

“Miller, Weber and (Adam)Cornelius, along with Raymondo Brady, are all seniors and give them some steadiness,” he said.

But even though his team is undefeated, Gurley expects more of an effort.

“There are things that are not characteristic of this school,” he said, “like diving on the floor, refusing to lose and boxing out.

“Maybe we’re young and need to create mental toughness. That doesn’t guarantee wins but I know that when this community comes into the gym, they want to see West Rowan outhustle, outscrap — out-everything the opponent.”

Then, Gurley praised East again and agreed that it’s still early.

“You don’t hang banners in December,” he said.

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NOTES: Williams had 15 and Minter had 13 points for West. ... Cornelius did not score for East.

EASTROWAN (54) — Miller 22, Weber 9, Belk 7, Misenheimer 4, Talbert 4, Butler 3, Ledbetter 3, Brady 2, Cornelius.

WESTROWAN (67) — Mauldin 16, P. Williams 15, Minter 13, Hairston 8, Goodnight 5, Avery 2, Everhart 2, High 2, Barringer 2, Pritchard 2, Gaither, J. Williams, Trosper, M. Williams.

East Rowan 12 13 12 17 — 54

Westh Rowan 17 15 12 13 — 67