Seymour’s boys basketball team shrugged off a recent rash of slow starts on Monday night and appeared to have Columbus East on the ropes.

Unfortunately for the Owls, a third-quarter lull proved costly as East pulled away to a 44-38 Hoosier Hills Conference victory.

“We had a great start,” Seymour head coach Tyler Phillips said. “The kids were engaged; it was definitely the start we wanted. But we didn’t come out with the same sense of urgency in the second half.”

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East (4-6, 2-0 HHC) started the game slowly, making just 23 percent of its first-quarter shots (3-for-13). Seymour (3-9, 0-4 HHC), meanwhile, made six of its 10 shots and pulled to a 13-7 lead.

A steal and fastbreak layup by Aiden Goen to open the second quarter stretched the lead to 15-7 and propelled the Owls to a 20-17 advantage at halftime.

“Their kids really controlled the game,” East head coach Brent Chitty said.

After an Eric McCoy jumper to start the second half, however, the Owls struggled. East scored the game’s next eight points to take a 25-22 lead and Seymour never recovered.

“We need five guys all on the same page playing hard for 32 minutes,” Phillips said. “We probably played 30 good minutes tonight. We couldn’t come up with that key rebound or stop in the fourth quarter.”

R.J. Kleber knocked down a 3-pointer to narrow the Owls’ deficit to 31-30 with 4:48 left in the game, but East never buckled. The Olympians outscored Seymour 13-7 to seal their victory.

Goen provided a spark off the bench for Seymour, scoring 12 points on perfect 6-for-6 shooting from the field. The junior added three assists.

“(Aiden) played really well tonight,” Phillips said. “That’s probably the best game he’s played at the varsity level.”

Kleber followed with 10 points. Jayden Brown finished with a team-high five rebounds, while Kleber had four.

Matthew Frost led East with game highs in points (15) and rebounds (10). Tyler Boyer and Jacob Pierce followed with nine points each.

Seymour has little time to recover from Monday’s loss with conference rival Bedford North Lawrence and Scottsburg on tap this weekend.