The Milan News-Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
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Big Reds suffer first loss
Adrian Madison scores final seven points of game for 57-56 win
By Jerry Hinnen, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: January 4, 2007
Milan boys' basketball head coach Jeremy Davies might be able to stomach being 4-1.
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That is, if his team hadn't come so close to being 5-0.
Milan missed three late free throws and went scoreless over the game's final 3:37 as Adrian Madison turned a 56-50 deficit into a 57-56 win in the final of the Manchester Invitational Thursday night.
Madison's Jacob Agruda hit the game-winning three-pointer with 23 seconds remaining.
"We didn't play Milan basketball," Davies said afterward. "We didn't pressure like we wanted. It was Madison who was diving after balls and getting offensive rebounds … we didn't do the things we needed to do."
Nearly three quarters of sluggish play left Milan starting at a 46-38 deficit late in the third period. But senior Randy Monty scored six points in the quarter's final 12 seconds — scoring, making a steal, scoring and drawing the foul, rebounding the missed free throw and scoring again at the buzzer — to suddenly cut the lead to two.
Milan would go on to score the first seven points of the fourth quarter to complete a 13-0 run and take a 51-46 lead with 5:39 to play. Madison cut the lead back to 51-50, but the Big Reds responded with a Monty three-pointer and a Paul Irwin steal and lay-up to stretch the lead to 56-50, Milan's largest.
Again Madison fought back, sinking two free throws and scoring with 1:40 remaining to trim the lead to 56-54. Milan went into a stall, dribbling a full minute off the clock before Irwin was fouled with 40 seconds remaining.
But Irwin missed the front end of the one-and-one and Madison took advantage with Agruda's three. Irwin found Erik Draves inside on Milan's ensuing possession, and a hard foul sent the 6-foot-7-inch forward to the line for two with 18 seconds left.
Draves missed both foul shots, however, and a foul in the battle for the rebound sent Madison to the line. The Trojans missed the front end of their one-and-one, giving Irwin the chance to race down court and shoot for the win. But his 5-foot jumper was off and after a scramble Cameron Hynds' desperation heave at the buzzer was no good as well, giving Madison the win.
"Paul had a good look at it. That's something we practice, taking it to the basket at the end of games, without calling a timeout," Davies said. "It could just as easily have been a win."
Davies was happy with his team's comeback in the second half, but added that his team needed to come out more prepared.
"Hopefully, we learned that we're not invincible," he said. "We can't expect to win by just walking on the floor. We have to be aggressive from the get-go."
Monty led the Big Reds in scoring with 23 points. Hynds, Draves and Milton Page scored eight points each, while Irwin added six and Erik Gunderson three. Senior forward Justin Fugate returned from injury to see his first action of the season.
Madison forward Adam Roberts finished with 25 points to pace the Trojans. He scored 13 in the first half as Madison led 14-12 at the end of one and 27-25 following a wild second quarter that saw seven lead changes, including on a 25-foot Madison three at the first-half buzzer.
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