Falcons Sensational Season Ends in Sweet Sixteen Loss, 79-71

AUGUSTA, Ga. – The University of Montevallo men’s basketball team (25-8) ended its postseason run with a 79-71 loss in the Sweet Sixteen to Augusta State University (29-3). The Falcons gave the Jaguars everything they could handle but a 22-7 advantage on the free throw line gave the Jags an eight-point win. The Falcons were led by All-Tournament performers Freddy Little (Raleigh, N.C./Bunn) and Mark Plaza (San Diego, Calif./Chula Vista) who combined for 43 of the Falcons 71 points. Little had 23 points while hitting five three-pointers. Plaza had 20 points and seven assists.

Senior Gerald January (Macon, Ga./Westside) had nine points and six rebounds while junior Cecil Coleman (Tampa, Fla./Tampa Bay Tech) had eight points and four rebounds.

The Falcons shot 58.3 percent from the field including 65.4 percent in the second half. ASU shot 57.8 percent from the field just behind the Falcons. UM had more field goals than the Jaguars but the difference came at the free throw line where the Jags were awarded 29 attempts compared to the Falcons 11. Senior Ben Madgen took 14 free throws which was three more than the entire Falcons squad.

ASU hit eight of its first 13 shots from the field to open the game. A Travis Keels’ layup put the Jaguars up 21-12 with 11:00 to play. The Tournaments Most Outstanding Player, Fred Brathwaite then hit a pair of free throws, followed by a Madgen jumper to boost that lead to 25-13 with 8:33 left in the first half.

The lead grew to 13 twice, the largest margin of the half.  Greg Hire hit a pair of free throws with 4:06 to play for the first 13-point margin. UM answered with a Ronald Severtsgaard (East Moline, Ill./United Township) free throw but ASU’s Alex Smith hit one of two from the line to keep the margin at 13.

Montevallo’s Tauras Dortch (Ensley, Ala./Ramsay) hit a 3-pointer from the corner to cut the lead down to nine, but a UM turnover on the ensuing inbounds play, giving ASU the ball with 4.8 seconds remaining. Madgen came off two screens to catch the inbounds at the top of the key, where he was fouled in the act of taking a 3-pointer. With zeros on the scoreboard, Madgen hit all three free throws that gave ASU a 41-30 halftime lead.

The Jaguar lead grew to as many as 14 in the opening 10 minutes of the second half.  Greg Hire, who hit all three of his field goal attempts, drained a 14-footer from the elbow that made the lead 47-33.  UM cut its deficit to 10 following a Plaza layup, but ASU responded with a Brathwaite jumper at the 14:32 mark that left ASU out in front 53-39. But that would be the last ASU field goal for nearly eight minutes as Montevallo rallied.

The Falcons went on a 12-1 run over the next six minutes that cut the lead down to three. Plaza scored seven straight points for the Falcons, all on driving layups.  He was fouled on the final drive and converted the 3-point play with 10:05 left to pull within six.  Little capped the run with a driving layup of his own followed by a Demarcus Richard (Portland, Ore./Jefferson) free throw that brought the ASU margin to three with over eight minutes to go.

Down 54-51, Montevallo surrendered two free throws to Madgen before a Little layup cut the lead back to three with 7:21 to play.  Madgen responded for the Jaguars with two free throws and a jumper at the 6:34 mark that pushed the lead back to seven, but Little drained a trey and Plaza drove in for another layup to pull the Falcons within 60-58 at the 4:45 mark.

ASU senior point guard Daniel Dixon stopped the bleeding and turned the momentum with a 3-pointer from the left elbow on ASU’s next possession, bringing the 2,131 fans in attendance back to their feet.  Little answered with a driving layup, bending around an ASU defender in the air to bank his shot off the glass.  That bucket brought the Falcons within 63-60, but they would get no closer as the Jaguars scored seven straight points that left the score 70-60 with 1:13 to play.

Forced to foul, UM put Madgen on the line where he hit four straight over the final 48 seconds to seal the victory.  Madgen hit all 14 of his free throw attempts in the game, scoring a game-high 28 points with five rebounds and two assists.