(photo by Jim Lindquist)
Farmington celebrated its return to the friendly confines of Tiger Gym with a solid 70-67 Missota Conference win over Holy Angels Tuesday night.
Four players scored in double figures for the winners as they evened their conference record at 1-1.
"Overall, we played good basketball," Farmington coach Shane Wyandt said. "There were times where we didn't react so well to having the lead but we made some plays when we had to and we did a good job of handling their pressure."
The Tigers led by as many as 11 points in the first half on the back of a balanced scoring attack and an ability to deal with the Stars pressure defense. A rash of late turnovers, however, cut that margin almost in half by intermission where Farmington led 36-30.
"When we turn it over it seems to come in rashes," Wyandt said. "Playing with a lead has been an issue for us all season."
The Tigers regained their composure after the break (5 second half turnovers) and held an eight-point lead with a minute and half to to play. Holy Angels canned a late three-pointer and a field goal as time expired to make the final spread a little closer.
Freshman Zach Speikers hit a big front end of a one-and-one opportunity with 90 seconds to play but had to leave the game because of a cut. Sophomore Mackinley Bassett came in off the bench to hit the second to restore the Tigers' eight-point lead.
Nick Varner put together a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead Farmington. Darren Beenken scored 15, Alex Chadwick 12 and Bassett 10. Speikers had a season-best nine off the bench.
"Nick (Varner) did a nice job stabilizing us on the defensive glass," Wyandt said. "That was one of the things we knew we were going to have to do to win."
Friday night the Tigers hit the conference trail with a road game at Northfield. Next Tuesday (Jan. 24), they're back home to entertain Chaska.
