Late Free Throws Lift Bentonville Past Lafayette

Nick Smith of Bentonville goes up for a shot Thursday as Jeff Leeson of St. Joseph-Lafayette (Mo.) attempts to block it during the Neosho Holiday Classic.

Nick Smith of Bentonville goes up for a shot Thursday as Jeff Leeson of St. Joseph-Lafayette (Mo.) attempts to block it during the Neosho Holiday Classic.

Friday, December 28, 2012

— When Bentonville couldn’t get a shot to fall Thursday afternoon, the Tigers’ free-throw shooting came to the rescue.

Nick Smith’s two free throws with 56.8 seconds left put Bentonville ahead to stay, and Austin Heard added three more to seal the Tigers’ 59-55 quarterfinal victory over previously unbeaten St. Joseph (Mo.) Lafayette at the Neosho Holiday Classic.

Bentonville (9-2) hit 8-for-11 from the line while going the final six minutes without a field goal. That shooting dry spell allowed Lafayette (8-1) to eliminate a 51-43 lead and eventually take a 55-54 lead on Jeff Leeson’s 3-pointer with 2 minutes, 1 second remaining.

“Our kids made some big free throws down the stretch,” Bentonville boys basketball coach Jason McMahan said. “We had some issues getting the ball where we wanted to get it. They scrambled us out of it late in the game to negate some of those field-goal opportunities.”

The Fighting Irish had a chance to extend its lead, but Xavier Kurth — who led all scorers with 28 points — missed a layup, giving the Tigers another chance. McMahan then waited for his team to get the ball into the front court before calling a timeout with 1:06 left.

Bentonville wanted to get the ball inside to Smith and did so. The 6-foot-8 senior forward was fouled while shooting, and he hit both free throws to put the Tigers ahead 56-55.

“We wanted to get the ball where we wanted to because we had gone so long without a field goal,” McMahan said. “We wanted to get Aaron Ward into the game because he’s such a good passer.

“We had an action that we wanted to get lined up because we knew we could score with the way they were defending. On that play, we got the ball to Nick.”

Heard was fouled following a Lafayette turnover, and his two free throws made it 58-55 with 25.8 seconds left. The Fighting Irish then worked the ball for a tying 3-pointer, but Cody Massey missed from the left wing.

Bentonville grabbed the rebound, and Heard was fouled with 0.9 seconds remaining. He hit the first free throw to seal the victory, putting the Tigers in the semifinals for the first time under McMahan.

“They have some savvy players,” Lafayette coach Chris Neff said. “The guard (Heard) is a tremendous player, and he iced the game down the stretch.

“I’m proud of our kids. We did a really good job of fighting back. I’m a little concerned that we didn’t fight in the beginning and sort of backed down.”

Smith and Heard each had 21 points for Bentonville, which had a 43-30 lead with 2:27 left in the third quarter before Lafayette made its comeback attempt.

The Tigers return to action at 5 p.m. today against the winner of a later game between defending tournament champion Sunrise Christian of Wichita, Kan., and Carthage, Mo.

BENTONVILLE 59, ST. JOSEPH (MO.) LAFAYETTE 55

Lafayette 13 15 10 17 — 55

Bentonville 17 16 14 12 — 59

Lafayette (8-1): Kurth 28, Goudeau 8, Leeson 7, Day 6, Massey 6.

Bentonville (9-2): Heard 21, Smith 21, Ward 6, Bachman 5, Head 4, Dixon 2.