WINTHROP – The Mountain Valley Falcons’ feet were dragging a little bit in the fourth quarter. The momentum was swinging Winthrop’s way, and a 1-3-1 zone the Ramblers had switched to late in the third quarter, plus the tired legs, were taking away the open jumpers they were getting to fall earlier.

The circumstances called for slowing the game down, controlling the tempo and the ball, which the Falcons did. But there’s a fine line between slowing things down and becoming too passive on offense.

“We were trying to catch our breath a little bit and still find some open looks,” sophomore guard Cameron Kaubris said. “We have a little bit of a problem forcing things at times, but penetration was a big deal during the fourth quarter.”

Kaubris scored a game-high 21 points and a number of his teammates joined him in making some crucial free throws down the stretch as Mountain Valley pulled away to a 58-49 win over Winthrop in a clash of Mountain Valley Conference powers Thursday night.

“We knew that they were going to be a tough team but we knew that lately we’ve been doing really well offensively,” Kaubris said. “We couldn’t be tentative. We had to take it right to them.”

The Falcons (9-2) attacked the Ramblers for 18 points in the first and last quarters and overcame some shooting woes with excellent defensive stretches in the second half.

“They’re a very good team,” said Winthrop coach Tyler Hunt, whose team has lost three of its last four to drop to 8-3. “They put us away at the line at the end of the game. I don’t think the final score shows how close a game it was.”

Indeed, the Ramblers fought back from a six-point deficit to take a 44-43 lead on a nice drive-and-dish from David Ketchen (five points, eight assists) to Corey Staples with three minutes left.

But the Falcons were starting to find some seams in the Ramblers’ zone, and they started exploiting those openings for penetration or interior passes that usually resulted in fouls.

Cole Clark hit a pair of free throws to make it 45-44 Mountain Valley with 2:33 to go. After Andrew Smithgall (14 points) hit the front end of a one-and-one to tie the game, Matt Laubauskas put the Falcons back in front for good by sinking a pair of freebies with 1:43 left.

Ketchen missed a jumper for the tie and the Falcons, who dominated the defensive glass all night (zero Winthrop offensive rebounds) secured the miss and called a time out with 1:21 remaining.

Kaubris made it a two-possession game with a drive to the hoop with 1:13 left. Winthrop then turned the ball over and was forced to start sending the Falcons to the line, where they made nine of 12 attempts in the final 2:23.

“That was big because in the Dirigo game (a 55-52 loss) we missed our free throws and it cost us,” Kaubris said. “The first day back at practice, we shot 50 free throws, first thing. Free throws won it for us tonight.”

Yet it was still a one-possession game after Chad Morang came off the bench to drill a 3-pointer for Winthrop with 29 seconds left. The Falcons’ Travis Ruff (16 points) and Ramblers’ Zac Farrington (14 points) traded one-for-twos from the line before Ruff and Chris Day teamed up to make four in a row to put the game away.

“We got inside a little bit, we rebounded well at the end and we showed some composure,” Mountain Valley coach Dave Gerrish said. “Winthrop’s a good basketball team. We struggled a little bit getting out on their 3-point shooters.”

Smithgall’s shooting kept the Ramblers in the game in the first half (three 3-pointers), but the Falcons actually had more success from beyond the arc, drilling five out of their first nine attempts to lead by as much as 11 in the first half.

Mountain Valley started to go cold from the field late in the second quarter and saw its lead dwindle to six at intermission. The Falcons went 0-for-7 from downtown in the second half and shot 6-for-22 from the field overall. But the defense made up for the offense’s struggles, though, as Winthrop went the first 5:10 of the second half without a two-point field goal. Skylar Whaley and Smithgall each hit a trey to keep the Ramblers close.