Forreston 50, Milledgeville 46:Forreston remained in first place in the NUIC East with a 50-46 win against Milledgeville Tuesday.
Both teams had their share of momentum in the fourth quarter, but it was two inside baskets by Jordan Bagley (16 points) with one minute remaining followed by late free throws that secured the win for Forreston (11-8, 6-1 NUIC East).
“What a roller coaster,” Forreston coach Jonathan Schneiderman said.
Forreston remains tied for first with Polo (18-3, 6-1) and South Beloit (17-1, 6-1), while Milledgeville (9-8, 3-3) dropped to fifth.
The Cardinals have been on a week-long streak of winning and hot shooting. While the winning continued on Tuesday, their shot was a bit cooler.
“You’re going to have those nights,” said Schneiderman of his team’s off night of shooting. “The important thing was we kept playing. We executed two possessions of offense very efficiently at the end. We did a good job sticking in there.”
Down the stretch, it was Michael Schneiderman (18 points, four 3-pointers) and Colton Scott (8) that went to the line for the Cardinals to keep the lead intact.
Schneiderman (nine rebounds), Bagley (seven), Scott (six) and Matthew McCoy (five) all pulled down their share of rebounds to secure Cardinal second chances.
“We know these guys,” said Bagley. “We’ve played against them forever. There are always good feelings – no matter (what happens). It’s all in fun.”
Kirk Engelkens led the Missiles with 22 points while adding nine rebounds.
“It was a game of missed opportunities,” Milledgeville coach Brian Rahn said. “We had our (chances) and played pretty well during the game. But Forreston made some adjustments and I thought we did a poor job of executing after that.”
Levi Harris (10 points) and Jason Gelwicks (eight) also were strong for the Missiles, who jumped out to an early 7-0 lead and fought back in the fourth quarter with a 12-0 run.
“It took us a while to work our way back into it but I was very happy that we did,” Rahn said. “In the second half we chipped away and did what we needed to do. We just weren’t quite good enough to make the stops when we needed them. I’m very happy that we were able to play with Forreston, at Forreston, and really have a chance to win.”
-gatehouse news service
