Bowling Green’s Buccaneers lost both games in the JP Tournament, which was Jan. 2-3.

The Bucs opened the event with a 61-58 loss to Starkville after making a fourth-quarter comeback that came up short.

Bowling Green was down, 50-34, after three but outscored Starkville, 24-11, in the fourth quarter.

The Bucs had the deficit to 58-56 in the fourth, but Starkville made a pair of free throws to extend the margin to four. After a Bowling Green miss and a foul, Starkville pushed it to five by splitting from the line.

Bowling Green’s Jordan Barnes hit the game’s final shot to reflect the 61-58 final.

Barnes finished with 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting. He also grabbed two rebounds and made a steal.

K.J. Robertson led the Bucs in scoring with 22 points on 7-of-9 shooting and was 8-of-12 from the free-throw line.

Robertson had a strong double-double, which also included 17 rebounds. Robertson posted three assists and two steals for Bowling Green. Brady Goings had eight points, five assists, two steals and a rebound.

Bryan Ottinger and Jared Gambino scored six points apiece. Ottinger grabbed seven rebounds to go with two assists. Gambino’s points came on a pair of threes. He also had four steals and a rebound.

Dylan Varnado posted three points on a trey, with two boards, an assist and a steal.

Bowling Green lost the second game, 57-44, against Leake.

Robertson was strong once again with another double-double. He had 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting, with 14 rebounds. He also logged three steals, an assist and a block.

Gambino finished with nine points and two rebounds.

Barnes had eight points, five boards, two steals and an assist.

Goings recorded three points on a 3-pointer with three rebounds and three assists. Varnado added two points, two assists and a rebound. Bowling Green is back in action tomorrow for the first of three games this week. The Buccaneers play at home against Silliman Institute tomorrow. Tuesday, they travel to Ben’s Ford Christian School to play the Eagles before hitting the road Saturday to take on Columbia Academy.

They begin with JV games, the first one starting at 4 p.m., with varsity contests following.