BAYTOWN — The Nederland Bulldogs’ comeback fell short in a 55-51 overtime loss to Friendswood at Baytown Sterling on Tuesday.

The Bulldogs (21-14) held their own in the first quarter again the Mustangs (21-12), but trailed 18-15 at the end of the quarter.

Friendswood was able to capitalize off Nederland’s 10 first-half turnovers and made six three-pointers to take a 28-22 lead at the end of the first half.

Two Bulldogs, Hayden Hefner and J.B. Rahe, accounted for 19 of their first 22 points. Nederland went on an 11-3 run to make the score 31-31 with 4:06 left in the third quarter.

Both teams stayed within a score of each other until the Bulldogs took a 48-43 lead with 4:17 left in regulation. That’s when Hefner scooped up a loose ball and laid it up with his left hand.

That was the Bulldogs’ last field goal for the game.

The Mustangs battled back to tie the game at 48-48 with 1:16 left. Bulldog junior Bryce McMorris missed an open three with :44 left in regulation, but Nederland’s defense held tough to send the game to overtime.

With :06 left in overtime, the Mustangs sealed the victory with a pair of free throws to make the final score 55-51. The Bulldogs did not score a field goal for the last 8:17.

“Our guys played well,” Nederland head coach Brian English said. “They just had some seniors that wanted it more. Our inexperience cost us. We took a couple of bad shots and that cost us the game. We lacked a little bit of basketball IQ there at the end, but you have to give [the Mustangs] credit.”

Nederland has no seniors on the team compared to Friendswood’s six. Hefner finished with a game-high 22 points.

The Mustangs advance to take on Houston Madison in the next round.