ATHENS — Athens shook off a rough first half, and a poor shooting night at the free-throw line to post a 70-60 win over Towanda here Thursday night in NTL Large School Division boys basketball action.

“Offensively, we were not as crisp as I would have liked in the first half and we missed a ton of foul shots tonight,” said Athens coach Jim Lister. “I will never be happy about that.

“We made some halftime adjustments and came out and played a much better second half and got the win,” he added.

Lister also heaped praise on first-year Towanda coach Landon Henry.

“First, I want to give a ton of credit to Coach Landon Henry,” said Lister. “He is young and has ton of energy and his kids are buying in.

“They are going to beat some teams this season on just effort and hard work,” added Lister.

Athens senior guard Tucker Brown scored the first seven points of the game, but Towanda used an 18-4 blitz to take an 18-11 with 1:45 remaining in the first quarter.

Senior J.J. Babcock scored five straight points, and senior Nalen Carling made a free throw in the final seconds of the opening stanza to draw within 18-17 at the end of the opening stanza.

ATHENS — Williamsport scored the first 17 points of the game, and held Athens off the scoreboard for the first five minutes of the game in a 55-23 win here Monday night in non-league boys basketball action.

Junior Chris Mitchell’s free throws with 2:55 remaining in the first quarter sparked an 8-0 spurt that also included buckets by senior J.J. Babcock, junior Mason Lister, and senior Troy Pritchard that closed the gap to 17-8.

The teams traded buckets until midway through the second quarter, but the Millionaires closed out the first half with a 9-1 spurt tot are a 33-15 lead at the half.

Williamsport used 14-0 run that bridged the third and fourth quarters to extend their lead to 53-19 in the opening minute of the final stanza.

The Wildcats shot 19.5 percent (8 of 41) from the field, and committed 29 turnovers in the loss.

Lister led Athens with eight points and four rebounds, while senior Tucker Brown had four points and one blocked shot, senior Nalen Carling had four points and four rebounds, Mitchell hauled down six boards, and Pritchard added three bounds and two steals.

Athens, now 6-2, hosts Towanda Thursday.