Fallston had opened an 18-point lead six minutes into the third quarter and was seemingly on its way to an easy boys basketball win at Bel Air last night. But Bel Air closed within two points in the fourth, and Fallston needed some clutch foul shooting to prevail, 61-56.
As quickly as the lead mounted for the No. 20 Cougars (3-1), it unraveled. Although Bel Air (2-3) never led, it was within 51-49 with 2:34 left, the first of three such gaps. The last was 58-56 on Dave Ungham's free throw with 22 seconds left.
The Bobcats still got two more shots before a Fallston rebound sealed it. In the last 2:22, senior co-captains Jud Ryan and Kernan Kelly thwarted the home team, combining for 8-for-10 from the foul line.
"After we got that lead, they [Bel Air] hit a couple of shots and rebounded well on offense," Kelly said of the last 10 minutes. "Down the stretch, though, I thought we got our composure."
At times during that span, Fallston had five seniors on the floor, including starters Kelly, Ryan, Rick Shearer and Jayson Dilutis. The first three accounted for 49 points, led by Ryan (20) and Kelly (19).
Ironically, it was an air ball on a free-throw attempt by Ryan with 2:32 left that got the Bel Air crowd excited, but he shook it off.
"I've been playing basketball since the fifth or sixth grade -- that sort of thing doesn't bother me. Things like that happen. You just keep going," Ryan said.
Ryan and Mike Giuffrida, two fine all-around athletes, were three-year regulars for their school's outstanding soccer team, and Ryan said because of his soccer experience, he was used to the pressure of others pointing for his teams.
"I think that soccer experience helped Mike, too, and then he's so quick and strong," Ryan said.
The same experience that pushed Fallston over the hump is a missing ingredient for Bel Air. The Bobcats have now played five games and could have won all of them. They lost to Centennial by five, and came back from 10 down in the last two minutes and had a shot to win in a one-point loss at Glenelg.
"We haven't learned how to win," said coach Bill Georg. "You get the opportunity -- you have to do it. It's a game of spurts and we started poorly in both halves." The visitors scored the first seven, and got 12 in a row after the break.
The Bobcats' first four games saw seven different players in double figures, before Ungham, a 5-foot-7 junior guard, repeated with a 17-point effort. Another guard, sophomore Nick Triandafilou, had a solid game and contributed nine points.
* Dunbar 70, City 66: Tommy Polley scored 22 and Robert Foster had eight points and 12 rebounds as No. 2 Dunbar (5-0) survived a scare from host City (0-5).
* Walbrook 75, Edmondson 63: Antwon Jenifer scored 29, Travon Broadway 22 and Kevin Elliott 10 as visiting and No. 3 Walbrook (5-1) held off No. 19 Edmondson (4-2).