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| Zach Speikers 18 points, 6 rebounds (photo by Jim Lindquist) |
Ryan Boldt's drive in the lane supplied the game-winning points with six-plus seconds to play. Farmington advanced the ball, called time out and had 3.2 seconds to get off a shot, a long three-point attempt by Zach Speikers that bounced off the rim at the buzzer.
"I thought the main difference was they (Red Wing) got the better part of the physical play," Tiger coach Shane Wyandt said, "and, of course, they hit the shot at the end.
"The hardest thing about the loss is that it was on our floor. We only have two more games here so we're going to have to find a way to start playing better on the road."
The first half was as exciting as any played on the home court this season. The score was tied six times during the first 18 minutes and the lead changed hands seven times. The halftime score was appropriately knotted at 34 points apiece.
Speikers had 11 points and Nick Varner and Mac Bassett added eight apiece to lead the Farmington first half effort.
The offensive pace slowed in the second half but the defensive intensity by both teams racheted up a couple of notches.
Red Wing took an early lead before baskets by Bassett, Speikers and a big three-pointer by Johnny Dittman gave Farmington a 49-44 lead with 7:57 remaining.
The lead was six points at 57-51 at the 3:20 mark after back-to-back three-pointers by Bassett and Speikers but the Wingers would outscore their hosts 10-2 the rest of the way.
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| Mac Bassett 15 points (photo by Jim Lindquist) |
After Buck's three-point play tied the score with 1:19 to go, the Tigers had the ball with the game tied, a sequence Wyandt said he would be thinking about for awhile.
"It's sort of an in-between amount of time," he said. "It's a long time to hold the ball for one shot. Mac (Bassett) saw an opening and took it to the rim. It was right there. The shot just didn't fall."
The Wingers rebounded the missed shot, called timeout with 18.4 seconds to play and Boldt did the rest to drop the Tigers to 4-4 in conference play.
Speikers finished with 18 points and six rebounds to lead the Farmington scoring. Bassett added 15 and Varner chipped in with nine points and seven rebounds. Eli Rockett had six points and six rebounds.
The Tigers scored two more field goals than the visitors (24-22) but the Wingers had the edge in free throws (8-4) and three-point baskets (9-7).
The Tigers who have now lost four conference games by a total of 13 points will try to get on the right side of the final score Tuesday night when they travel to New Prague for a league contest. The Trojans prevailed by four points when the two teams met last month at Tiger Gym.
