If the Newnan boys were looking for a signature win as a springboard into next week's Region 2-AAAAA tournament, the Cougars found it last night in a 70-69 overtime victory over visiting M.L. King on senior night.
"It was a great win to send these seniors out with a victory," said Newnan head coach Rod Ladd. "We have experienced a lot of ups and downs this year, but it was nice to come out on top."
It was Newnan's fifth overtime game of the year and their second against the Lions, who won the first meeting between teams in DeKalb. The Cougars are now 2-3 in extra sessions, including a double-overtime loss at home to Langston Hughes.
(To view or purchase photos from the game, visit http://photos.times-herald.com/mycapture and navigate to Sports / Basketball for the gallery.)
The two teams took turns exchanging the lead in the extra period, but the Cougars were able to put the game out of reach by hitting three free throws in the last 30 seconds.
Junior Tray Matthews accounted for one, and Darrallel Morrow sank two more in the final seconds to push the Newnan lead to four points.
The Lions connected on a 3-pointer as time expired, but it still left M.L. King one point shy of sending the game to double overtime.
Matthews led four Cougar scorers in double figures, finishing the game with 20 points. Maurice Arnold added 15, Kaceon Person chipped in 12 and Morrow added 10.
Johnny Garvin added 14 for M.L. King. Tivius Guthrie and De'Aires Tate scored 11 each. Jackson and Greg King finished with 10 apiece.
Early in the contest, Newnan didn't have an answer for the Lions' outside shooting, with M.L. King posting three 3-pointers in the first quarter including one by Paul Johnson that gave the visitors an immediate 10-0 lead.
The Lions pushed the advantage to 22-11 by the end of the first quarter and led by as many as 17 before halftime.
However, the Cougars closed out the second quarter on a 13-5 run to cut the gap to 35-26 at the break.
