Fairborn rallies from the line to beat Lebanon

Uncharacteristic free-throw accuracy leads to comeback victory on the road.

Prep headlines
9/5/10
Franklin to honor three undefeated teams
9/5/10
Sports headlines
9/5/10
Houshmandzadeh gone from Seattle after 1 year
9/5/10
Bengals pick Nugent as kicker, make roster cuts
9/4/10
> More sports headlines

E-mail this page

By Dave Long, Contributing Writer 3:49 AM Saturday, December 12, 2009

LEBANON — Fairborn looked nothing like a 59 percent free-throw shooting team Friday, Dec. 11.

The Skyhawks hit 19 of 22 free throws in the second half (26 of 33 for the game) to come from 16 points down and defeat Lebanon, 71-68.

Included in 86 percent second-half precision were 18 straight makes until Tyler Wlazlo missed a pair with 22.8 seconds to go. Brad Hall put Fairborn up, 68-66, with two freebies at 1:02.

Kendrick Williams moved that lead to 70-66 hitting nothing but net at 40.8. Lebanon’s Blake Davenport drove the lane for a 70-68 game with 26 seconds to go.

After Wlazlo missed, Lebanon got the rebound and called time out with 16.7 seconds left. Coach Pat Murphy set a play for Davenport to drive the lane for an open shot.

Davenport got a short jumper, which he missed, got two offensive rebounds and could get neither to fall.

Williams, a 6-foot sophomore, finally got a Fairborn rebound with 3.4 seconds left, was fouled and made one of two free throws.

Lebanon took another time out to set up a 3-point shot by Davenport at the buzzer that didn’t fall.

“We weren’t thinking about how many free throws we were making,” said Williams, who had 25 points including 13 of 15 from the line. “We just knew every time we went to the line, we got a little closer.”

Williams was able to beat his defender off the dribble all night and get to the basket. He was 5 of 7 from the floor in the second half and 8 of 9 from the line.

Lebanon built its lead with Davenport (22 points) and Dusty Isaacs (20 points) able to drive to the basket. “We finally got our defense squared around so we could challenge them if they got to the basket,” said Fairborn coach Nathan Chivington. “Once we began making stops and making free throws, we got back in it little by little.”

Share this article