LOUISA, Ky. - Tough times require mental and physical toughness. The Ironton Fighting Tigers exhibited both Friday night.

Playing on the road with point guard Brigham Waginger resting a sore ankle, Ironton battled past the Lawrence County Bulldogs 52-50.

Ironton didn't shoot particularly well, making just 34 percent of its shots. But two clutch foul shots by Marcus Williams and some key shooting by Dennis Gagai in the second half helped Ironton to its 15th win against three loss.

"The kids kept their composure well in a tough situation. I'm proud of them," Ironton coach Roger Zornes said.

Gagai finished with 24 points - 14 coming in the second half - along with seven rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Josh Sands had eight points, five rebounds, and two assists, and Joe Zornes had eight points despite sitting much of the game in foul trouble.

The Bulldogs (6-14) were led by 6-foot-5 Shawn Thompson with 19 points. Peyton Preece finished with 13 points.

The Fighting Tigers led by eight points heading into the fourth quarter, but the Bulldogs came back to take a 45-44 lead with 2:40 to play on a layup by Thompson.

The lead changed hands four times, the final on a 3-pointer by Gagai with 1:40 left that gave Ironton the lead for good at 49-47.

Thomas Lewis made the second of two foul shots with 1:11 left as Lawrence County got within a point. Williams then sank two foul shots with 53 secnds to play that put Ironton up 51-48.

"Those free throws were big. I noticed Marcus was shooting with the palm of his hand, so we got him to put the ball in his fingertips. He's shooting free throws much better," coach Zornes said.

Thompson's layup with 19 seconds left made it a 51-50 game. Ironton failed to connect on the front end of a one-and-one with 10 seconds left, but Thompson walked before crossing halfcourt with two seconds on the clock.

A technical was called on Thompson for protesting the call, and Gagai hit one of the two foul shots to set the final score.

After a 10-10 first quarter, Ironton led by as many as 10 points in the second quarter. Sands' 15-footer just before the buzzer made it 25-17 at the break.

Joe Zornes hit a shot jumper and then a 3-pointer to give Ironton its biggest lead of the game at 33-21 with 5:42 left in the third quarter. A 3-pointer by Brandon Parsons with 12 seconds left in the quarter got the Bulldogs within 41-33 heading into the fourth quarter.

In the reserve game, Ironton won 55-20. Brian Wirzfeld and Josh Adkins scored 10 points each while Brandon Walker and Shawon Miller had eight each for Ironton.

Ironton10151611-52

Law. Co.1071617-50

IRONTON (14-3):

Josh Sands 3-12 (1-4) 1-3 8, Dennis Gagai 8-20 (4-7) 4-5 24, Joe Zornes 3-6 (1-3) 1-2 8, Derique Bacon 1-2 (0-0) 0-0 2, Marcus Williams

2-6 (0-0) 2-2 6, Patrick Kouns 0-0 (0-0) 0-0

0, Nick Collins 0-1 (0-0) 0-2 0, Brandon Walker 1-4 (0-1) 0-0 2, Shawon Miller 0-1 (0-1) 2-2 2. Totals: 18-52

(6-16)

10-14

52. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: Zornes (4th 1:11). Rebounds: 12-19=31 (Gagai 7, Sands 5, Williams 5). Team/dead ball rebounds: 4. Assists: 9 (Gagai 3, Sands 2). Steals: 8 (Gagai 3). Turnovers: 9. FG%- 34.6. FT%- 71.4. 3pt%- 37.5.

LAWRENCE COUNTY (6-14):

Brandon Parsons 2-8 (2-6) 0-0 6, Thomas Lewis 2-7 (0-2) 2-4 6, Peyton Preece 5-11 (2-6) 1-2 13, Shawn Thompson 9-13 (0-2) 1-3 19, Derrick Endicott 1-6 (0-1) 4-4 6, Jared Hackler 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, James Storts 0-1 (0-0) 0-0 0. Totals: 19-46

(4-17)

8-13

50. Fouls: 21. Fouled out: Thompson (4th 0:02). Technicals: Thompson. Rebounds: 6-22=28 (Endicott 9, Preece 6, Lewis 6). Team/dead ball rebounds: 2. Assists: 7 (Parsons 3). Steals: 3. Turnovers: 10. FG%- 41.3. FT%- 61.5. 3pt%- 23.5.