By MARK SALUKE
Tribune sportswriter
February 14, 2008 11:50 pm
—
DENVER — After Taylor and North Miami battled through 18 lead changes and three ties, it was fitting that the outcome of Thursday night’s game came down to the final shot.
Trailing 53-52, Taylor called timeout with :16 showing. North Miami broke up the play resulting from that timeout, but gave Taylor a final shot at stealing the game.
On the Titans’ next possession, Reomey Northington’s runner in the lane at :07 fell short and both teams rushed for the loose ball. The Warriors’ Ryan Musselman came out with the ball and North Miami emerged with the win.
“We had a baseline play for [Tyler] Gotshall and the pass got deflected out of bounds,” Taylor coach Jeff Fisher said. “At that point we tried to get it in on our line play and ended up having to improvise a little bit. We had a shot to win it against North Miami on the road, and I’ll take that. I was really proud of the way we fought hard and executed.”
North Miami (13-4) held a 41-39 lead at the beginning of the quarter, but the Warriors were able to up that lead to as many as eight, 50-42, on an Adam Miller 3-pointer at 4:24.
Jonathan Bulger responded for Taylor (10-6), netting a 3-pointer and then turning a Northington steal into a bucket seven seconds later, getting the Titans to within three, 50-47. Musselman scored the Warriors’ next three points, two on a basket and one at the free throw line to make it 53-47.
Northington’s 3-pointer with :34 showing made it 53-52, and after Adam Miller missed the front end of a one and bonus, the stage was set for the Titans’ final effort.
Taylor led after each of the first two stops — 20-17 at the end of the first quarter and 30-29 at the half.
The Titans’ largest lead of the night was five, 20-15, with :48 remaining in the first after Cory Herr went on a 7-0 run.
That was the largest lead for either team in the first half as the Titans and Warriors were almost identical statistically. One lopsided statistic was at the free throw line. Taylor went 5 of 5 from behind the charity stripe in the game, but the five total attempts were overshadowed by the Warriors’ 15 trips.
“We usually get to the line 15 to 20 times a game,” Fisher said. “That was the difference in the game. We got the ball down low but we didn’t get to the line. It was unreal.”
The Warriors also got the best of the Titans on the boards, out-rebounding Taylor 30-24. Seventeen of those boards were courtesy of Musselman, who also finished with 11 points. Greg Miller led North Miami with 14 points and Adam Miller netted 13.
“I think rebounding was the difference in this game,” North Miami coach Zach Henson said. “We got some key rebounds and some key stops. I think we also played well because we have had the experience earlier this season with these types of close games.”
Gotshall led Taylor with 15 points and six rebounds. Bulger finished with 10.
Taylor hosts Carroll Saturday night and Fisher said that if he sees the same effort on the court as he saw Thursday, he will be happy.
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.