6 free throws in final 2:49
(photo by Jim Lindquist)
It wasn't exactly a work of art but the Tigers overcame a rash of turnovers and a furious St. Paul Harding rally to defeat the Knights 66-63 Thursday night at Tiger Gym for their first win of the season.
The two teams combined for 47 turnovers in the contest, 25 of them by the home team.
"Sometimes that first win comes hard for a young team and I think that was the case tonight," coach Shane Wyandt said. "We didn't take very good care of the basketball and we have to do that better if we are going to win basketball games.
"The best thing about this game is that we found a way to win in the end. We'll take it for what it is and move forward."
In the early going, the Tigers looked like they would run away and hide from the St. Paul City Conference school after an early 14-4 spurt produced a 28-11 lead.
But the visitors responded with a 9-0 of their own run to cut the deficit in half. Farmington led 36-22 at intermission.
The Tiger advantage swelled to 19 points at 47-29 early in the second period on Johnny Dittman's three-pointer but from there on the Knights gradually pecked away at the lead.
The spread was still 11 points with 3:00 minutes to play before things began to unravel for the home team as Harding closed on 15-7 run.
Austin Bassett made six of eight free throws over the final 2:49, including four straight in the last 16 seconds, to finally seal the deal.
Nick Varner
13 points, 14 rebounds
(photo by Jim Lindquist)
Bassett and Nick Varner, who also pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds, shared Farmington scoring honors with 13 points apiece. Mackinley Bassett added 10 for the winners.
Other than the final outcome, Wyandt said there weren't a lot of memorable moments for the locals.
"I thought Jacob Hansen gave us some good minutes off the bench and Nick (Varner) and Tom (Sell) did a nice job on the boards in the second half," he said. "Like I said, we'll take the win, learn from it and move on."
The Tigers don't have much time to rest as they bounce back into action Friday night against Zimmerman at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
