FAYETTEVILLE — One intentional foul call seemed to make all the difference Tuesday night for Fayetteville.
The Bulldogs appeared to be on the ropes against Springdale Har-Ber, down six points in the final minute of the third quarter.
But just when things seemed in doubt, an intentional foul called on Har-Ber’s Nac Williams against Jawan Smith on a breakaway layup turned the tables in Fayetteville’s favor in a 55-48 win in Bulldog Gymnasium.
“From that point on, that was the momentum changer,” Fayetteville coach Kyle Adams said. “There’s no doubt about it. Har-Ber was the more aggressive team up to that point, but that foul was a big lift for us.”
Fayetteville (14-12, 7-6 7A-West Conference) trailed 34-28 with 29.4 seconds left in the third quarter at the time of the intentional foul. But the Bulldogs cut into the deficit when Smith made the layup on the play, then converted both intentional foul free throws.
Derek Arnold followed with a game-tying jumper in the lane just seconds later, and the Bulldogs then scored 10 of the first 11 points in the fourth quarter to pull away.
“When you’re on the road you can’t expect to get the breaks,” Har-Ber coach Adam Simmons said. “You’ve got to be able to fight through that stuff.
“Our kids continue to fight and play hard, but momentum just totally changed after that (intentional foul).”
Har-Ber (3-23, 2-10) got 20 combined first-half points from Jason Holmstrom and Matt Bradley to help build its early lead on Fayetteville. But in the second half, the Wildcats were limited to mostly free throws as the Bulldogs’ defense held Har-Ber to five field goals after intermission.
“We did a poor job of help defense and we allowed Bradley to go off on us,” Adams said. “But we just need to learn from this and get ready for the next one on Friday.”
Bradley finished with a game-high 23 points, including a 12-for-15 night from the free-throw line, to lead Har-Ber. Tyler McCullough paced the Purple’Dogs with 13 points and seven rebounds.
Har-Ber is back home Thursday against Rogers High, and Fayetteville returns to action Friday against Springdale High.