Dragons take overtime to edge past Redmen

PEDRO — The Rock Hill Redmen and Fairland Dragons took their Ohio Valley Conference battle Thursday into overtime as the Dragons escaped with a 62-55 win.

The Dragons - who were were 5-3 overall and 2-2 in the league coming in - started out the game hot grabbing an early lead in the first part of the first period of play.

But the Redmen - 4-6 and 1-3 in the OVC - scrapped in the second part of the quarter to get back within 4 points to finish the period 17-14 in favor of the Dragons.

Gerald Love hit a pair of threes for Fairland while teammates Ford Rickard, Trevor Lochow and Cliff Fransen each hit a trey in the period. Love would finish with 6 points and Fransen 5 for the quarter. For the Redmen,

Rylan Barker would get the hot hand hitting two 3s and going 2-2 from the free throw line for 8 points while Carson Medinger and Yaden Bailey each hit a bucket. Jarrod Bridges would round out the score for the Redmen going 1 of 2 from the line.

In the second quarter, Fairland would keep relatively hot shooting from the perimeter scoring all 12 points in the period from behind the arc.

Lochow hit two 3-pointers while Rickard and Maddox Gue each made one. Mayson Black came off the Redmen bench and sparked The Hill with a pair of 3-pointers. Kelan Davidson hit a triple and scored on a driving layup while Medinger scored on a rebound put-back.

The half ended with the Dragons up 29-25 over the Redmen.

The third period saw the Dragons build their lead to 9 points, finishing the quarter up 45-36. Maddox Gue would lead Fairland’s 3rd quarter charge with eight points. Rickard scored three, Fransen hit a 3-point shot, and Love netted a bucket

Bailey would lead the Redmen with 4 points on a bucket and 2-2 from the line while Bridges scored two, Davidson two and Medinger 3 points.

The fourth quarter belonged to the Redmen as they dug their heels defensively and used solid possessions on offense to erase the 9-point lead.

Barker hit two 3-pointers and finished with 8 points in the period while Davidson would nail a huge trifecta late and Bailey was again perfect at the line going 2-2.

For the Dragons, Lochow would have 4 points hitting a trey and going 1-2 on free throws; Love was 2-2 from the line and Rickard 1-2.

Fairland, trying to hold the lead and run the clock out, would find themselves defending the last 15 seconds of the game, holding a 3-point lead. With time expiring in regulation the Redmen attempted and missed a 3-pointer but Redmen freshman, Jarrod Bridges grabbed the loose ball under the rim following the miss and went up for the shot, was fouled with the horn sounding to end regulation as the ball fell through the cylinder.

Fairland called a timeout with no time on the clock and after the timeout, Bridges sank the and-one free throw to send the game into overtime.

The overtime period belonged to the Dragons, outscoring Rock Hill 10-3, as Fransen heated up from midrange hitting three buckets to score 6 points, Love made a layup while Lochow and Gue each made a free throw. Bailey hit the field goal in overtime for the Redmen while Medinger added a free throw.

Rylan Barker led all scorers with 16 points, and Teammate Yaden Bailey netted 10 for The Hill.

For the Dragons, five players reached double figures, scoring led by Lochow and Fransen with 14 points each. Gue and Love each finished with 12 points, and Ford Rickard had 10 points.

With the win Fairland moves to 6-3 overall and 3-2 in OVC while Rock Hill falls to 4-7 and 1-4 in OVC.

Fairland 17   12   16     7   10  = 62

Rock Hill 13   12   11   16     3 = 55

FAIRLAND (6-3, 3-2): Ford Rickard 1 2 2-3 10, Trevor Lochow 1 3 3-4 14, Kinyon Smith 0 0 0-0 0, Kiyan Page 0 0 0-0 0, Cliff Fransen 4 2 0-0 14, Stephen Jones, 0 0 0-0 0, Gerald Love 2 2 2-2 12, Maddox Gue 2 2 2-4 12, Owen Burcham 0 0 0-0 0, Totals 10 11 9-13 62. Fouls 16.  Fouled out: Rickard.

ROCK HILL (4-7, 1-4):-Jarrod Bridges 2 0 2-3 6, Rylan Barker 1 4 2-2 16, Mayson Black 0 2 0-0 6, Carson Medinger 3 0 2-4 8, Kelan Davidson 3 1 0-2 9, Yaden Bailey 3 0 4-6 10, Totals 12 7 10-17 55. Fouls 13. Fouled out: None.