South Stanly had defeated the Mustangs 55-54 in overtime last week after East had a big halftime lead.

“We sort of blew it last time, up 17 at halftime. The guys were disappointed after that. That was sort of the low of the season so far, so we helped right that a little bit tonight,” said coach Mark Flynn of East.

The Mustangs, 2-6 overall with both wins on the road, play at Northwest Cabarrus in the 3A South Piedmont Conference on Friday night.

“We’re ready to get back to the conference Friday,” said Flynn, whose Mustangs are 1-3 in the league with a victory at Piedmont.

East built up a 23-15 halftime lead last night, but the Rebels went on a 7-0 run to cut the Mustangs’ lead to one point.

Then center Cedric Gill of East made his first field goal of the night. After a South Stanly basket, guard Adam Cornelius knocked in a 3-pointer, and Gill scored twice on baseline jumpers. It was 33-24.

The Rebels got back within five at 38-33 with 4:30 to play before the Mustangs put it out of reach with a Gill layup, two free throws by Cornelius, a 3-pointer by forward Taylor Weber and another basket by Gill.

“We played a lot better than we’ve been playing recently tonight. We played better as a team, which is what we’ve been working on,” said Flynn.

Gill scored 15 of his game-high 16 points in the second half.

“He made some good moves down there around the basket,” said the East coach.

Weber scored 11. Reserve center Curt Rusher and Cornelius added eight and seven, respectively. It was a career high for Rusher, a 6-4 junior who went 4-for-4 from the floor and grabbed several rebounds.

“We’ve been waiting on him to step up. Not only did he do a good job down there (offensively), but he was a defensive force too. We hope he can build on that. He had a little bit more fire in his eyes tonight. We expect him to be a good player before he’s finished here, and he showed it a little bit tonight,” said Flynn.

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NOTES: Flynn was especially pleased that East cut down on its turnovers in the second half. The Mustangs lost the ball only six times after intermission to finish with 15 turnovers. ... Gill had six rebounds as East edged the Rebels 24-21 on the boards. ... Cornelius had six assists plus five rebounds. ... Marquis Hamilton paced South Stanly with 13 points, while Matt Crawley had five rebounds. ... East was 19-for-40 (47.5 percent), while the Rebels were 14-for-38(36.8 percent). ... The scoreboard was not working, so the score was displayed by hand at the scorer’s table. The score and time remaining was announced often. ... South Stanly is a member of the 1A Yadkin Valley Conference.

EAST ROWAN (53) — Shepherd 3, Weber 11, Gill 16, Miller 3, Cornelius 7, Rusher 8, Misenheimer 5, Sides.

SOUTH STANLY(36) — Crawley 6, Hamilton 13, Gaines 5, McClendon 2, Furr 8, Wall, Ussery 2, A. Gaddy, Diggs, Morris.

East Rowan 12 11 10 20 — 53