combined for 34 points vs. Chaska
(photos by Jim Lindquist)
When Farmington hosted Chaska last month at Tiger Gym the Hawks dominated the glass on the way to a 76-65 victory.
In Tuesday night's rematch in Chaska the Tigers held their own on the boards and the result was a hard-fought 62-58 win.
"It was a bloodbath out there," Tiger coach Shane Wyandt said. "There were guys on the floor from both sides all night. They (Chaska) were very physical again but we did a good job of sticking with them."
Farmington finished with a 31-29 advantage on the glass in a contest where the teams shot just a combined 20 free throws despite the physical play.
The game was as close as the final scored indicated with the visitors leading by 33-31 at the half. Both teams held leads in the second half but never by more than six points.
In the closing minutes Nick Varner broke a 55-all tie with a basket in the paint and a possession later Mackinley Bassett scored in traffic for a four-point lead.
Farmington led by a bucket with 3.5 seconds remaining when Darren Beenken was fouled and made two free throws to ice the Tigers' second straight win.
Bennken finished with 18 points and Varner had 16 to pace the Farmington offense. Bassett added nine points and Jake Hanson chipped in with six.
The Tigers helped themselves by hitting 25 of 45 shots from the floor for 55 percent while holding Chaska to 37 percent shooting.
"We played more man-to-man than we did the first time we played them," Wyandt said, "and we did a good job of contesting shots."
Farmington (5-6) will try to extend its Missota Conference winning streak to three games Friday night when its entertains New Prague (7-4) at Tiger Gym. Tip-off is set for 7:30.
