Vikings Hold Off Big Reds’ Late Push

The Milan Big Reds were unable to pull past a strong Dundee Vikings team Tuesday night. Both teams played well defensively, but Dundee's ability to make late free throws spoiled Milan’s comeback bid. The Vikings won 54-51.

Milan and Dundee came out firing early, but neither team was particularly accurate offensively in the first period. The zone defense for both teams created problems offensively, allowing few open looks and forcing many rushed shots.  Milan led 9-7 after eight minutes.

Dundee began to shoot better in the second quarter, while Milan continued to struggle. Poor decisions, both offensively and defensively, plagued the Big Reds, who went in down 25-20 at the half.

“We gave up way too many offensive rebounds in the first half.  We were going for the ball hard, but we weren’t boxing anyone out,” said head coach Josh Tropea.

After the break, Milan came out a bit stronger on defense and began knocking down some of their better looks on the offensive end. Andre Duffin made both free throws from a technical foul that Dundee head coach Doug Hand earned for excessively arguing with the referees and Milan was able to pull within one by the end of the period.

The fourth quarter saw a quicker tempo to the game. Both teams began running the floor and picking up fast breaks on rebounds. As the period progressed, Dundee matched Milan basket for basket, keeping the Big Reds just behind. Andre Duffin and Jiles Neely both hit long three pointers to keep Milan close, but Neely was unable to connect as time expired to tie the game.

In a game that saw only four Big Reds put points on the board, Duffin led scoring with 18 points.  Neely had 15, CJ Turnage had 14 and Jeremy Maas had four.  They went 15 for 20 from the charity stripe, while Dundee was 18 of 22.

“We’re relying on two or three guys to do everything for us. Other guys have got to look to score. We need a few guys to come off the bench and get some buckets,” said Tropea.