The Milan Big Reds boys’ varsity basketball team lost in the final seconds to the Flat Rock Rams 52-51 in overtime Friday night. CJ Turnage’s shot as time expired looked like it was going in then spun out as the buzzer sounded.
Milan trailed early, going down 10-6 after one period and 17-14 at the half. After the break, the Big Reds came out determined to get Turnage the ball down low.
“We were able to go into the locker room at halftime and make it extremely clear to the kids (that we wanted to get the ball in deep.) We started to get the ball to him in the second half and good things happened,” said head coach Josh Tropea.
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Problems at the free throw line plagued a normally consistent Milan team. As a whole, the team went 16-for-26 from the charity stripe and they missed some critical ones late in the fourth quarter.
“It was a huge part of the game. We missed a lot of free throws in the second half. When you lose close games shooting badly from the line, it hurts,” said Tropea.
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The game looked like it was going to swing Milan’s way when Julian Robinson drew a charge with 25 seconds left in regulation, but a missed free throw and poor defensive rebounding allowed Flat Rock to tie it up as the horn sounded.
Overtime was a see-saw affair, with each team taking the lead multiple times. In the end, Flat Rock got a bucket driving hard to the rim and Milan’s last shot popped out.
Andre Duffin led Milan with 21 points and Turnage added 17. Rashard Wade led Flat Rock with 23 points.