After trailing 25-22 at the half, the Fort Dale Eagles managed to pull ahead of visiting Bessemer 32-29 early in the third quarter, but a technical foul by Eagles' head coach Reggie Mantooth gave the Rebels a spark, sending them on a 18-0 run that sealed the 64-51 win, and marked the Rebels eighth victory of the season.

The Eagles drop to 9-9 with the loss, but remain 3-0 in area play.

The Eagles were coming off an overtime win at Morgan the night before, something Mantooth said took its toll on his players.

"I thought we played real hard," Mantooth said.

"After last night we lost our legs. Everyone struggled with their shot and maybe that's the affect of playing a tough overtime game last night."

"(Bessemer) is a good team and I think it showed in the game."

Bessemer head coach Toviris Rooks, whose two sons plays for the varsity, said his team looked a little out of sorts too.

"I thought we were just kind of off," he said.

"We've got some players that are just coming in after playing football, and they're a little behind."

Rooks said his strategy was to stop the Eagles fast break.

"We had to be a little more forward," he said. "We had to get back to stop their fast break."

Mantooth said this year has been a little tough, having to replace several seniors including AISA player of the year Brett Paulk.

"We lost a lot of talent last year," said Mantooth of his team who committed 26 turnovers in its loss to Bessemer.

"It's taken us a while to get some experience and we've had some tough games on the road at Morgan and Monroe, but we're definitely playing a lot better since Christmas."

Adam Moore led the Eagles with 15 points including four three pointers. Chuck Barrett added 10 points and five rebounds with Mason Bass posting eight points and six boards.

Toviris Rooks paced the Rebels with 18 points with Brandon Lewis adding 13 points and Martez Nalls 12 points.

Fort Dale hosts Monroe Friday with the tip scheduled for 7:30 p.m.