Morgan avenged an earlier 13-point loss to Prattville Christian by handing the Panthers a 45-39 loss on Tuesday.

The Senators raced out of the gate to gain control, scoring the game’s first six points and keeping the Panther offense in check.

“The first half, I felt really good about our intensity and level of play,” said Morgan coach Lee Tate. “We were just smothering on defense.”

Morgan closed the period with an 8-0 run triggered by a Coal Brown 3-pointer to push the lead to 17-4. Morgan outscored the Panthers 9-4 in the second period to lead 26-8 at the half.

“For some reason, we treated this game like it wasn’t important,” said Prattville Christian coach Jason Roberson.

The Panthers got off the mat to make it a game in the second half, cutting the deficit to 13 by the end of the third quarter. A 13-2 run sparked by free throws and capped by a Jeremy Carr 3-pointer made it 36-32 with 3:42 left.

“Sense of pride got us back into it,” said Roberson. “We were getting our tails kicked.”

Another move that led to the run was the starters’ return to the bench late in the third quarter as the Panthers made their run.

“We did it to get the starters focused and rest them a little,” said Tate.

After Prattville’s run, the starters returned and responded. A Brown layup and Sam Tate 3-point play triggered a 7-2 run to extend the lead 43-34 with 52 second left.

The win puts the Senators (14-6, 7-2) in second place in the region. The Panthers (12-8, 5-3) could have clinched with a win.

Brown led the Senators with 15 points, and Tate finished with 13.

Taylor McLain led the Panthers with 13 points, and Taylor King contributed 11.