Apex coach David Neal knew what to expect from Chapel Hill Friday after seeing them play last summer. He knew they were big and athletic, and he knew his team would have to have an inside presence to compete.

Unfortunately for the Cougars (3-1), its inside presence fell victim to foul trouble, and a third-quarter comeback fell short as Chapel Hill handed Apex a 70-61 loss.

Poor rebounding, particularly in the first half, was a major factor in the loss, Neal said.

“We dug ourselves in a hole in the first half,” Neal said. “They were killing us on the offensive boards. My assistant coach counted 16 offensive rebounds for Chapel Hill, so they were getting three and four looks a possession, and that was killing us.”

Apex trailed 20-9 at the end of the first quarter, as Chapel Hill’s Justin Kenyon matched Apex’s first quarter point total on his own.

Despite trailing 35-22 at halftime, Apex came back to take the lead in the third quarter. Sophomore center Weston Murphy scored 10 of his 21 points to spark the Cougars’ run. Apex outscored Chapel Hill by 14 points in the third quarter, giving the team momentum going into the final period.

After trading leads through the first part of the fourth quarter, Apex found itself in trouble when Murphy fouled out. As a result, the Cougars were forced to rely on 3-point shooting to try and get back in the game.

“Our big man fouling out was huge,” Neal said. “Without him down low, if we’re not hitting the 3-ball, we just don’t have many options.”

Fourth-quarter turnovers, as well as a lack of a post presence down the stretch, cost Apex the game, Neal said. Chapel Hill sealed the game from the free-throw line, eventually holding on to the nine-point win.

“In the fourth quarter we just didn’t get it done offensively,” Neal said. “The first couple of possessions we had turnovers that I thought were bad choices and we just took way too many 3s in the fourth quarter.”

Chapel Hill coach Paul Kieckbusch said his team did a good job of surviving Apex’s rally in a hostile environment, particularly in hitting clutch free throws in the fourth quarter.

“We expected that run from Apex,” Kieckbusch said. “They’re always a well coached team at home. We knew they would make a run. I just told our guys to keep playing hard and momentum would shift. It’s a game of runs. I give credit to our guys to making plays and staying with it. We made free throws down the stretch, and we haven’t shot that well [at the line] all year.”

The loss will serve as a learning experience for his young team, Neal said, as it is the first loss of the season for the Cougars, and against a nonconference opponent.

“Chapel Hill made plays and made shots down the stretch, after we made our comeback,” Neal said. “Give them credit; we just didn’t get it done in the fourth quarter. We need to put this one behind us. It’s our first loss and a nonconference game. This is a young team, so I think we’ll learn from it.”

Neal said he would like to see his big man, Murphy, learn to stay out of foul trouble because the team doesn’t have a post presence without him.

Murphy said Apex’s inability to hit perimeter shots and rebound, even in his absence, was the major factor in the loss and an area of needed improvement.

“We don’t really have a back-up big man, so they had to take the outside shot and they just couldn’t hit them,” Murphy said. “I think we have a lot of improvement to do. We have to learn to play when we don’t have a big man in there, and run more motion and score off the fast break.”