With a little more than two minutes left in Saturday night’s contest against the Class 6A Dothan Tigers, the Andalusia Bulldogs got in foul trouble and fell 52-45.

The Bulldogs led 13-12 after the first quarter and 24-17 at halftime and even held a 32-31 lead at the end of the third quarter.

But, Dothan started to inch its way back into the game by the fourth quarter.

The Tigers forced turnovers and made essential free throws to clinch the win.

“We’ve got a lot of weaknesses,” Andalusia coach Richard Robertson said. “This is what I’ve been talking about all year about being erratic. We broke down and had our chances, blew a lead, missed lay ups, missed free throws and didn’t box out.

“Those are the things that I’ve been talking about all the time have caught up with us.”

Saturday night’s game was Andalusia’s second loss last week. Last Friday night, the Bulldogs (18-4, 5-1 in Class 4A, Area 3) lost to area opponent Thomasville, 35-29.

In order for the Bulldogs to overcome the slump, Robertson said, the team needs to “step up.”

“If someone else would step up and do a better job, then I would use them,” he said. “If they don’t, then we’re going to have to get better. Our opponents are using the same plan of attack against us and it’s working.”

Jamal Rodgers led Dothan (18-6, 3-1 in Class 6A, Area 5) with 14 points. Devante Johnson added 11 for the Tigers, and Barnard McGhee finished with nine points

Andalusia’s Jamal Curry led the Bulldogs with 15 points. Jacard Townsend had 11 points and Justin Dooley chipped in 10 points.

This week, it doesn’t get any easier for Andalusia with three games on the road at Brantley, Northview (Dothan) and Opp.

Robertson said the only solution to get over the hump his team is in, is just to play Andalusia basketball.

“We’ve got to play our way through it,” Robertson said. “If we’re not good enough to do that, then we’ll suffer the consequences. “

“But right now, we’ve got to try and get the bleeding stopped,” he said. “Everybody we’re going to play is going to be a quality opponent.”