ASHLAND, Ky.

Wednesday, January 19, 2000

ASHLAND, Ky. – This time the ball bounced the wrong way.

Just when it appeared as though the Ironton Fighting Tigers had their second straight upset road win, the ball didn’t go their way.

Derek Cooksey hit a long 3-pointer at the buzzer at the end of regulation to tie the game, then scored five points in overtime as the Ashland Tomcats escaped with an 83-74 win over Ironton Tuesday.

"We had our two best defensive players on him. You have to give him credit. He just hit the shot," Ironton coach Chris Barnes said. "Friday night the ball bounced our way. Tonight, it wasn’t meant to be.

"We had some opportunities to win the game, but in no way can I fault anyone on this team. They played so very, very, very hard. I’m so proud of this team. It’s a shame either team had to lose."

Ironton (3-7) had battled back from a 16-point deficit the first quarter to tie the game on some clutch shooting by Drew Mains.

Ashland had taken a 56-46 lead with 6:34 left in the fourth quarter on two foul shots by Arliss Beach.

But Mains drained back-to-back trifectas to get Ironton back in the game.

Then trailing 71-64, Josh Harmon followed up a missed shot, Jason Harmon hit a layup, and then Mains nailed his third 3-pointer of the quarter and it was 71-71 with 58 seconds on the clock.

Jason Harmon and Isaac Hannon teamed up for a steal moments later and the play resulted in a layup by Roman Fry with 13 seconds to play that gave Ironton its first lead of the game.

Cooksey was called for a walk on the inbounds play and Jason Harmon was fouled with eight seconds to go. Harmon hit the front end of the one-and-one to make it 74-71, but Cooksey threw up his prayer shot to tie the game.

Cooksey opened up the overtime period with a 3-pointer and a layup as Ashland grabbed the lead. The Tomcats then converted 4-of-4 free throws as they outscored Ironton 9-0 in the extra period.

"People who haven’t seen this team are missing a lot of fun. They play so hard and never let anything bother them," said Barnes.

"We got off to such a bad start, but they never quit."

Jason Harmon led Ironton with 22 points while grabbing six rebounds, five assists, and three steals.

Hannon finished with 18 points and Mains finished with 13. Josh Harmon had a career-high 17 rebounds.

Ashland (7-6) had five players in double figures led by Cooksey with 36. Beach scored 12, Surgalski and VanHoose had 11 each, and Brad Salyer added 10.