ASHLAND – Tyrell Ajian is no stranger to buzzer-beaters. The Madison senior knocked down an NBA-range shot to knock off Lexington earlier this week.
But Friday night in Ashland, Ajian ran out of time and his well-defended long-range heave as time expired was off the mark. Madison scored 17 points in the last 2:40 of the game, but the Arrows held on for a 62-60 home win.
“We were hoping for a little Tyrell magic again but it just didn’t happen tonight,” Madison coach Tim Mergel said. “We scrapped, man. There’s no quit in our kids. You look at our scores, we’re in every game if you take away Wooster.
“We’ve done it this year where we win games like that, but we need to find ways to be a little bit more consistent.”
With 2:40 remaining, a Garrett Denbow 3-pointer put the Arrows up 53-43. After two free throws by Madison’s Kyle Jackson, the Rams went to a full-court press, forcing a turnover. Jackson knocked down a 3, cutting the lead to five points.
The Arrows (11-3 overall, 6-2 in the Ohio Cardinal Conference) turned the ball over again on the inbound pass and Jackson hit two more free throws, leaving Ashland with a three-point lead with 1:33 left.
Grant Denbow knocked down 4-of-4 free throws for the Arrows while Jackson and Ajian hit 3-pointers for Madison (8-6, 4-4). That left Ashland with a one point lead at 57-56 with 50 seconds left. Denbow hit the front end of a one-and-one but missed the second, but Manny Langston grabbed the rebound, forcing the Rams to foul Denbow again.
The senior again made both free throws, putting Ashland on top 60-56 with 34 seconds on the clock.
The teams traded free throws on their next possessions, leaving the lead at four with 9.5 seconds left.
Ajian was fouled trying to force up a desperation 3-pointer with 5 seconds left. He hit all three free throws, cutting the lead to one. Denbow netted one of two free throws, setting up Ajian’s ill-fated last-second attempt at being a hero for the second time in a week.
Trailing 18-14 after the first, Ashland outscored Madison 17-8 in the second quarter behind 11 points by Langston, most on drives to the basket.
“We felt our best offense was in transition and it happened that Manny was bringing the ball up and the matchup really favored us,” Ashland coach Jason Hess said. “So we were trying to clear some things out and give him some room to get to the basket. He did a nice job not settling for jumpers but going to the basket and drawing contact and even finishing at the rim.
“It was nice seeing him be aggressive in transition like that and make some buckets.”
The Arrows were up by as much as 12 points early in the second half but Madison rallied to cut the lead to 4 early in the fourth quarter.
Ashland was lead by Langston with 19 points. Denbow hit 8-of-10 free throws, all in the last three minutes of the game, and scored 13 points.
“Grant’s a good shooter. He was playing with a lot of confidence tonight,” Hess said. “It was real nice to see him just step up there, not only at the free throw line but the way he went and got the basketball and had the confidence to go get it and force them to follow him.”
Garrett Denbow chipped in 15 and senior John Wolfe scored 10. Ashland played without senior Griffin Gerwig who was sick for Friday’s contest.
“We challenged our guys before the game that it wasn’t going to be one guy. We don’t have one guy in the locker room that’s going to replace Gerwig’s 16 points and 12 rebounds,” Hess said. “It was going to be a collective effort. We would need two or three guys to get an extra two or three rebounds and score an extra couple points.
“To get four guys in double figures and make the big free throws down the stretch. It was nice to see everybody rally together.”
Jackson paced the Rams with 23 points, Ajian hit for 18 points and Shamir Brown scored 13.
The Rams travel to Wooster on Tuesday.
Ashland also goes on the road Tuesday to face Mount Vernon.
