BRISTOL, Tenn. — Ahead eight points with 3 minutes left, Fayetteville appeared on its way to the finals of the 27th Arby’s Classic.
But the Bulldogs stepped out of character in the end, making bad decisions on offense and failing to get any stops on defense.
The result was a 14-0 run and a 50-45 win for unbeaten Greater Atlanta Christian Wednesday night in Viking Hall.
Malcolm Brogdon scored a game-high 20 points for the Spartans (10-0), while foul-plagued 6-foot-7 senior Trent Wiedemon supplied a go-ahead 3-point play with 1:31 left.
“This one falls squarely on my shoulders,” Fayetteville coach Barry Gebhart said. “The last 2 minutes of a game is where a coach can have a greater effect.
“We were not well-coached in the last couple of minutes and I can’t fault my players. They did the things we asked them to do, but we just didn’t execute.”
Leading 42-34 after Adam Nobel scored off a slick bounce pass from Kikko Haydar, Fayetteville came up empty on five consecutive possessions, forcing a couple of quick shots and committing two turnovers.
It was a frustrating ending to what had been an outstanding defensive effort for the Bulldogs. Their big men put Wiedemon, who’d averaged more than 20 points per game in his first two Arby’s games, into quick foul trouble by drawing two charges in the game’s first 3 minutes.
After sitting out the last 13 minutes of the first half, Wiedemon quickly drew another charging foul less than 3 minutes into the third quarter.
“I have no complaints with our defensive effort,” Gebhart said.
Fayetteville took a 23-20 halftime lead when Taylor Cochran beat the buzzer with a 3-pointer, then nursed it through a grinding, physical second half until the last three minutes.
Haydar finished with 14 points and five assists, while Cochran added 12 points. Nobel contributed 10 points and six boards, but the Bulldogs sank just 17 of 51 field goals.
“We’re going to live or die by our defense, and I think that’s what stepped up for us in the fourth quarter, particularly with the full-court press,” Greater Atlanta coach Eddie Martin said.
Fayetteville will meet New Rochelle (N.Y.) for third place Thursday at 3:30 p.m. Central time. The Bulldogs were supposed to play McEachern (Ga.), but it had to pull out of the tournament after its semifinal loss to Memphis Melrose because it would have been over its state’s limit for regular-season games.