JAY – Monmouth and Jay were both searching for their first win heading into Friday night’s head-to-head at the Tigerdome. Jay found theirs first, and they have Brandon DeMillo to thank.
DeMillo capped a spectacular second half by scoring the game-winning basket with five seconds left as the Tigers outlasted the Mustangs, 49-47.
“We didn’t even have a set play for it,” said DeMillo, who scored 17 of his game-high 25 points in the second half. “I saw an open lane to the basket and just took it. I was hoping to get to the line. I wasn’t expecting to make it.”
The Tigers (1-6) did a good job of getting to the line all night, otherwise the Mustangs (0-6) might have been the ones ending 2005 with a win. Jay made 24-of-39 foul shots (62 percent), which helped make up for 27 percent shooting from the field.
“We were saying most of the game Be aggressive. We’ve got them in foul trouble. Take the ball to the hoop. We’ll get back to the line,'” said Jay coach Frank Williams.
Jay didn’t just generate offense by getting to the line. They took away much of Monmouth’s offense by getting leading scorer Dylan Reny into foul trouble. Reny had to sit out the entire third quarter after picking up four fouls in the first half.
“Foul trouble and turnovers absolutely killed us,” said Monmouth coach Shelby Turcotte.
Reny finished with 14 points off the bench, while Patrick Trenholm also came off the pine to add eight points. Brad Loon had 13 points, 11 rebounds and four steals for the Tigers.
The game saw 12 lead changes. The biggest lead for either team was the eight-point margin Jay built when DeMillo went on a personal 8-0 run to break a 30-30 tie late in the third quarter.
“My outside shot finally started to fall in the second half,” DeMillo said. “My team helped out a lot defensively, though. We won this game on the defensive side.”
Jay forced 11 turnovers in the third quarter, and DeMillo ended up scoring 14 straight points for the Tigers from late in the third to midway through the fourth quarter to put them on top, 42-34.
Reny re-entered early in the fourth and immediately got the Mustangs going again by hitting a 3-pointer. DeMillo was forced to the bench with his fourth foul, and Monmouth went on an 11-2 run that ended with a Reny hoop off a Nate Armstrong steal that made it 45-44 Mustangs with 2:49 left.
DeMillo returned after the subsequent time out, but didn’t factor into the offense until he made one-of-two from the free throw line to tie the game at 47 with 1:04 to go. Both teams then missed potential go-ahead free throws to set the stage for DeMillo’s winning bucket.
“It’s a learning spot for us. These kids are learning in situations, playing with fouls, in close games, things like that,” Turcotte said. “We’re right there. We’ve just got to get over that hump.”
“This is a huge hurdle for us to get over. We needed that first win,” DeMillo said. “I think we can get rolling for the rest of the season.”
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