'Biggest win ever:' R-B stuns Farragut

Updated: March 23, 2011 9:34AM

Coach Tom McCloskey downplayed it, but Mikey LeBeau called it the "biggest win" Riverside-Brookfield has ever had.

The Bulldogs shocked No. 3 Farragut with a 61-56 overtime win in the Ronald "Chops" Billinger Jr. Memorial Shootout at North Park University Saturday night.

R-B (14-4) trailed 44-30 after the third quarter, but outscored the Admirals 24-10 in the fourth to force overtime.

During that frame, LeBeau scored eight of his 17 points. But none were bigger than the two free throws LeBeau sank to put the Bulldogs up 54-52 with 16.2 seconds remaining.

"It felt good to help put my team in a position to win at the end there," LeBeau said.

Making both free throws proved to be critical as Farragut's Demetrius Tolliver drove the lane to tie it back up at 54 with 6.5 seconds remaining to force overtime.

McCloskey was all smiles when asked about the fourth-quarter comeback.

"We wanted to step the pressure up and force some chaos to get back in it," McCloskey said. "We weren't hitting many shots up until the fourth, but I was confident that could change and it did. We just wanted to play more up-tempo because that's our game and Farragut was slowing things down all game."

Farragut (16-3) had multiple chances to take the lead in overtime, but the Admirals went 0-for-3 from the free-throw line and couldn't take advantage of an offensive possession that yielded four offensive rebounds.

For the game, Farragut was 10-for-22 from the free throw line.

Nate Hanley hit two free throws with 9.7 seconds left to give the Bulldogs a 60-56 lead.

,p>LeBeau and Ryan Jackson led R-B with 17 points. LeBeau had eight rebounds and Jackson proved to be invaluable while handling the point guard duties under pressure.

Said LeBeau of the win: "Coach just said he doesn't think we've ever beaten a team in the top-5 so I think it is the biggest win."

Jackson added: "Biggest win I've ever been in. They're a really good team. They were out there playing hard and we just matched it."

Gabriel Williams led Farragut with 19 points and Tolliver added 17 more.

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