John Bruce, Staff Writer
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
WINCHESTER — Even when trailing by nine points with less than a minute left to play in regulation on Tuesday, Fairfield never stopped believing in a win.
Thanks to a swarming defense, a whole lot of belief, and some massively clutch free throws from senior Gabe Fouch, the Lions (14-0, 9-0 SHAC) were able to break off a 10-1 run over the final 50 seconds of regulation.
That game-ending run forced overtime before Fouch and company shocked Eastern by a 56-50 final, keeping a perfect record intact.
“We always preach the next-man mentality. You never know when your time is going to come, but to get ready for those moments is the belief that everybody has in each other,” Lions head coach Quentin Williams said after the comeback. “That’s the key component that pushed us over the edge those last few minutes to tie it. Then in overtime, my leaders stepped up. Trey House was telling everyone in each timeout that [the game] was ours and to believe in each other. When you have that belief, you are really hard to beat.”
WATCH: @fairfield_lions’ @FouchGabe & @LarkinFriend discuss tonight’s overtime victory over Eastern Brown, pushing the Lions’ record to 14-0.
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To even force overtime meant that the Lions had to make up ground as they trailed throughout the entire game.
Eastern’s Kade Walkup started the game off with a bang, knocking down 3-pointers on each of Eastern’s first two possessions. Besides a mini-run from the Lions to cut the lead to 8-6 midway through the first quarter, Fairfield never got closer until the game’s final minute.
To close out the first quarter, Walkup knocked down a mid-range jumper in transition as the buzzer sounded to give Eastern an 11-6 lead. In the second, it would be Eastern’s Drew Edmisten’s turn to take over as the junior buried a pair of 3-pointers in transition, before scoring at the rim to close the half, giving his Warriors a 27-17 lead.
Fairfield brought an increased vigor and energy to start the third quarter when House and Logan McIntosh each knocked down triples. But Eastern (11-4, 7-2 SHAC) was able to keep its distance, thanks to a third different scorer, this time being sophomore Braxton Vance. Vance scored four buckets, including a mid-range jumper to close the quarter, putting Eastern ahead 38-29.
The Lions were unable to make up ground, partially due to the Warriors’ size advantage. Vance, Pryce Murphy and Luke Haney dominated the offensive glass for the first 3 1/2 quarters, giving their teammates extra looks at the rim and extending possessions.
Once the Lions started to make progress on the boards, they began to claw their way back into the game.
“For us, it’s about gang-rebounding as a group, boxing out and being smart about it,” Williams said of his team’s rebounding effort late. “[Eastern] did dominate us on the boards for most of the night, but we did get timely rebounds when we needed it the most, which I would once again go back to the belief that they can do it.”
Eastern still kept some distance due to players like Walkup making big plays to give the team a 47-38 lead going into the final minute of play.
But that’s when the belief started to set in for the Lions.
The comeback started when House knocked down a 3 on the right wing, leading to a timeout with 47 seconds to play. Following a pair of split free throws from Eastern’s Grady Barber, Fairfield’s Larkin Friend scored in transition to cut the lead to 48-43. Seconds later, Janre Lerio forced an Eastern turnover, leading to a put-back basket from Fouch with 19.8 seconds left.
The lead had been cut to 48-45 and, coming out of a timeout, the Lions looked to attempt to get a steal before fouling. However, in an attempt to get a tie-up, Eastern was whistled for steps, giving Fairfield the ball with just 16 seconds remaining.
Williams then called his final timeout of the game to setup a shot for one member of his team.
“During the timeout, I was drawing up a play and I asked who wanted to shoot the ball,” Williams said of the final timeout. “The first person to raise their hand was Gabe. He said, ‘I want the ball, I want to shoot it.’ And we drew up the play for him. It kind of broke down, but he got to the right spot. So when Larkin [Friend] drove and they over-rotated, we found him in the corner. I knew when he got fouled that he was going to make them. We all believed in him and he believes in himself.”
As the play broke down and Fouch shot from the corner, he was crashed into with 8.7 seconds to play, leading to three free throws for the senior.
Down by three, less than nine seconds to play and needing to make all three to keep a perfect season alive? No problem for Gabe Fouch.
The senior buried all three freebies to tie the game at 48-48 and force overtime in front of a stunned home crowd.
Overtime would be all Lions, beginning with Cade Miller’s free throw with 3:36 to play, giving the Lions their first lead of the game.
Vance would tie the game with a free throw, but Friend gave the Lions the lead for good with 1:27 to play on a nifty drive from the left wing. Following a turnover, Friend knocked down a pair of shots at the stripe to take a 53-49 lead with under a minute to go.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
One last piece of adversity would face the Lions with 33 seconds to play when Friend, their senior point guard, fouled out of the contest with a four-point edge. The next man up mentality would pay off for the Lions, with Chase Newman pulling down a big rebound before House and Lerio split their trips to the free throw line, helping the Lions hang on to win their 37th consecutive regular season contest.
Fouch led the Lions in scoring with 14 points while Friend put together a ridiculous stat line of 12 points, nine rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocks to have the game-high in each of the final four categories. Joining Friend and Fouch in double-digit scoring figures were McIntosh with 12 and House with 11.
Eastern was led in scoring by Walkup with 14 points, while Vance scored 13 points and pulled down a team-high eight rebounds. Edmisten scored 10 points and gathered seven boards, and Murphy added six points for the Warriors.
Fairfield heads back to the road on Friday when they visit Ripley, while things don’t get any easier for Eastern as they host North Adams on Friday night.
BOX SCORE
Fairfield: 6-11-12-19 (8) — 56
Eastern: 11-16-11-10 (2) — 50
Fairfield scoring: Fouch 4 (3)- 3-3 – 14; Friend 5 – 2-4 – 12; McIntosh 5 (2) – 12; House 4 (2)- 1-2 – 11; Lerio 1- 2-4 – 4; Miller 1- 1-4 – 3; Team 20-51 (7-28)- 9-17 – 56
Eastern scoring: Walkup 5 (2)- 2-4 – 14; Vance 4- 5-9 – 13; Edmisten 4 (2)- 10; Murphy 3- 6; Barber 1- 2-6 – 4; Haney 1- 1-4 – 3; Team 18-48 (4-17)- 10-23 – 50
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