Fork Union steals one from #4 Fishburne, 74-72

Fork Union outrebounded Fishburne by 14. The Caissons were only 8-of-20 from the free-throw line, and missed the front ends of three one-and-ones.

And still #4 FMS had a shot to win at the end.

“We just couldn’t finish them off, and that’s my fault,” said Fishburne postgrad coach Ed Huckaby after his team’s 74-72 upset loss to Fork Union in the opener of the FMS Scotto’s Military Challenge Friday night.

Zach Lewis (Canisius) led FMS with 23 points, and Alassane Kah (Western Kentucky) added 16 for the Caissons, who suffered their third home loss of the 2012-2013 season.

“We’ve lost three games here this year by a combined five points. And we did little things in each one that cost us the game,” Huckaby said.

This time around, it was simply not finishing the deal. FMS led by as many as 10 in the first half, and opened up a 12-point lead midway through the second before Fork Union started to claw its way back into the game.

FUMA finally took its first lead of the night at 64-63 with 3:47 left on a free throw by Isaac Belton. There were two ties and three lead changes in the final 3:47, with a Julian Eleby free throw at the 1:18 mark giving Fork Union what turned out to be the lead for good at 69-68.

A steal and layup by Trey Brown made it 71-68 Fork Union with 1:05 left. Kuran Iverson (Memphis) scored in the post to cut it to 71-70 with 52.9 seconds left.

Brown made 1-of-2 free throws with 34.1 seconds left to push the FUMA lead to 72-70. Fishburne worked the ball in the post to Kah for a jump hook that went in for an apparent attempt at a three-point play, but officials ruled that he had been fouled before the shot.

Kah missed both ends of the two-shot foul. Fork Union rebounded the ball, and Belton made two free throws with 9.6 seconds left to make it a two-possession game.

Chase Cormier (Grambling) made a layup at the buzzer to cut the final margin to two.

“The problem was that only a couple of guys showed up tonight,” a dejected Cormier said after the game.

“Fork Union is a good team,” said Lewis. “To beat a team like that, you have to play all 40 minutes. We probably only played about 30 minutes tonight. And it wasn’t enough.”

Fork Union will battle #14 St. John’s Military Academy on Saturday at 8 p.m. on day two of the Military Challenge.

FMS has the day off due to the inability of #12 Gray Military Academy to make the trip from South Carolina due to the winter weather. The Caissons conclude the Challenge on Sunday at noon against St. John’s.