Free Throws

OMAHA, Neb. -- Edward St. Fleur scored a game-high 16 points, including six from the free-throw line in the last 4:07, as Creighton downed Morgan State, 63-56, last night before 3,802 at the Omaha Civic Auditorium.The Bears (1-4) tied the game at 47 on Scott Deas' jumper with 4:36 left, but the Bluejays (4-1) scored the next seven points -- all on free throws -- to take a 54-47 lead with three minutes left.Morgan State, which was led by Paul Grant's 10 points, forcedCreighton into a season-high 21 turnovers and held the Bluejays to 37 percent shooting.

COLLEGE PARK -- In some ways, short memories can hurt a basketball team. Mark Turgeon admitted after Sunday's 75-69 overtime win over No. 5 Virginia at Comcast Center that on a key possession toward the end of regulation, one of his players forgot which play the team was running. But having a short memory can also help a player, as it did sophomore forward Jake Layman while he was struggling through another tough shooting game: 1 of 7 from the field and 0-for-4 on 3-pointers against the Cavaliers.

NEW YORK -- For nearly a year, Charles Smith has worn the goat horns in New York. The Knicks forward has never lived down his performance against the Chicago Bulls in Game 5 of the 1993 series when he missed four layups in the closing seconds.Last night, teammate Hubert Davis would not succumb when faced with similar Game 5 pressure.Davis, fouled by Bulls forward Scottie Pippen on a three-point shot attempt, calmly hit two free throws with 2.1 seconds left that led the Knicks to an 87-86 win before a sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden.

The Edmondson boys basketball team knew exactly what it was in for going into Friday's Class 1A South region championship against Baltimore City rival Lake Clifton. Coach Darnell Dantzler told his No. 11 Red Storm that, to win, it would take maximum effort from every player. For senior guard Chaz Lassiter, that effort was shown in a 16-point performance, including 6-for-6 work at the free throw line in the fourth quarter. For junior forward Kani Coles, it was controlling the boards and scoring a couple big baskets when they were hard to come by down the stretch.

UMBC scored 15 straight points in the final 4:49 last night to erase a 15-point deficit against Robert Morris, but it wasn't enough.Robert Morris' Terrell Stuart was fouled along the baseline with one second remaining and hit a pair of free throws to lift the Colonials past UMBC, 78-76, at UMBC Fieldhouse.The Retrievers (1-2), who had trailed for much of the game, made a spirited run at the Colonials (1-2) when the verdict seemed already decided.A free throw by Kevin Bellinger started the Retrievers' run. When Eric Wyatt followed with a pair of three-pointers to close the Colonial lead to 76-68 with 3:02 left, the UMBC crowd came alive.

When Gilman coach Tim Holley said his team won yesterday's game against Patterson at the foul line, he meant it.Gilman (5-11, 1-4) converted 45 of 75 free-throw attempts in a 75-72 overtime win over the host Clippers (3-7, 2-3) in a Maryland Scholastic Association B Conference Division II game.Patterson, which was 12-for-35 from the line, committed 47 fouls and seven of its players fouled out. Two other Patterson players had four fouls when the game ended, and there were 73 total fouls.Gilman's 75 free-throw attempts tied the second-highest in the nation, according to the National High School Sports Record Book.

Quite a few girls basketball games are decided at the foul line. Yesterday's Catholic League matchup at St. Mary's C. Mason Russell Gymnasium never left it.In between the 50 personal fouls, the Girls basketballNo. 6 Saints controlled the boards, created the turnovers and hit the mandatory free throws in defeating visiting Institute of Notre Dame, 71-54."I told my kids before the game not to reach in because I knew this was the official who calls everything," said St. Mary's coach Harry Dobson, whose team will face a true test when it visits No. 7 Spalding at 8 p.m. Friday.

Kevin Norris didn't get much beach time in Miami last summer.Between his sophomore and junior seasons with the Hurricanes, Norris decided that he needed to work on his shot -- and his academic transcript. His regimen over two summer sessions consisted of a three-credit course in the morning, another at night, and in between, close to a thousand jumpers and free throws.For his trouble, Norris got 12 credits in the classroom and a stroke that has brought Miami three buzzer-beating wins in the Big East Conference over the past two weeks.

At his present pace, Andy Enfield will leave Johns Hopkins this year as the all-time free throw percentage leader in NCAA history.From the line, Enfield is close to automatic. He has missed only three of 63 attempts this season and 32 of 400 in his career.With a month of the regular season remaining, Enfield's career free throw percentage is 92.0. The NCAA record of 91.6 was set by Kent Andrews of Division II McNeese State from 1967-69.Greg Starrick, who played at Kentucky and Southern Illinois through 1972, holds the Division I record of 90.9.

When asked how he thought he had played, Centennial's Mark James, the hero of yesterday's 60-55 win over visiting Westminster, scrunched up his nose a bit and shook his head."

Kenny Sherrod made two free throws in the closing 52 seconds as No. 7 New Town rallied in the second half to beat host Owings Mills, 50-48, Wednesday night. Koran Ford had a game-high 20 points for the Eagles (9-9). The Eagles led 23-20 at the half and 48-46 with less than a minute to go. Sherrod, Danny Shand and Devon Smith each had 10 points for the Titans (17-4). No. 8 Randallstown 80, Towson 42: Jerell Cooke had a game-high 29 points and the host Rams (17-3) never trailed.

Host John Carroll used tough defense and made 12 more free throws to upset No. 5 St. Frances, 46-41, Wednesday night in boys basketball. The Panthers (19-8, 10-3 Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference) went 0-for-6 from the free-throw line and John Carroll (20-11, 9-5) was 12-for-16. Kimball Mackenzie scored a game-high 18 points for the Patriots. St. Frances led 20-17 at halftime, but John Carroll used a trapping man-to-man defense to limit the Panthers' offensive opportunities.

Jawara Kamaro sank one of two free throws with one second left on the clock Monday to give North Carolina Central (14-5, 5-1) a 53-52 victory over Morgan State (6-12, 4-2) and sole possession of first place in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. The Bears clawed back from down four with just over a minute left, but Shaquille Duncan made contact with Kamaro, which allowed him to make the game-winning free throw. Morgan State held a 28-17 first-half lead, but Jeremy Ingram led the way with 20 points to bring North Carolina Central back.

Jacqueline Brewer (27 points) made two free throws to break the fifth and final tie, at 79, with 38 seconds left in overtime, and Mount St. Mary's (9-10, 4-3) won, 84-79, against Bryant (10-8, 5-2) on Saturday. Bryant's Jenniqua Bailey (30 points) tied the game at 70-all with a jumper with less than two minutes to go. Both teams then traded 3-pointers over the closing minute to force overtime. Loyola Maryland 61, Colgate 54: The Greyhounds (5-14, 2-6 Patriot League) led the whole second half against the Raiders (5-14, 1-7)

COLLEGE PARK - There were moments during Saturday's game against Pittsburgh when Maryland seemed on the same level as the No. 20 Panthers. The Terps played with a little more of an edge than they had for much of the season, challenging one of the Atlantic Coast Conference's physically toughest teams by going to the basket and finishing at the rim. But the moments proved fleeting, as Maryland's defense couldn't stop the Panthers more than...

The Edmondson and New Town boys basketball teams were making it hard on each other to score baskets in a game at Friday's 18th Annual Basketball Academy, with tough defense having the bigger say. Titans guard Danny Shand was able to find his offense at just the right time. The senior captain scored all of his game-high 16 points in the fourth quarter, helping No. 14 New Town rally for a 49-44 upset win over No. 4 Edmondson at Morgan State. New Town didn't make its first field goal until there was 5:06 left to play in the first half, and the team had scored only 22 points going into the fourth quarter.

Centennial failed to make a basket in the fourth quarter, but got two free throws each from freshman Ashley Evans and junior Tia Richardson in the final 18 seconds to hold off Central of Prince George's County, 39-36, last night in a Class 2A South region quarterfinal game at Centennial.The 15th-ranked Eagles (19-5) will play tomorrow at Potomac, which defeated host Surrattsville, 61-52, last night. In the other region semifinal, River Hill will play at Long Reach.Centennial led 34-24 entering the final period.

Centennial scored one basket in the game's final 11 minutes -- the fourth quarter and a three-minute overtime period. But the Eagles defeated host Oakland Mills, 53-50, yesterday with some accurate late-game free-throw shooting in the Howard County boys game.The Eagles (9-2, 2-1) were 14-for-17 at the foul line in the fourth quarter and 3-for-6 in overtime, attacking aggressively inside and drawing repeated fouls from Oakland Mills.Oakland Mills' top two players fouled out -- Michael Hill on the last play of regulation and Chad Barr early in the fourth quarter.

The Randallstown boys basketball team closed out its game against Patterson in Thursday's 18th annual Basketball Academy with a couple erratic minutes of play. The No. 11 Rams had costly turnovers, some inconsistent aim at the free throw line and the big court and environment at Morgan State might have given them jitters. But the Rams' strong all-around performance, particularly in the second and third quarters, was enough, albeit just barely. Senior guard Devin Smith made one free throw with 31 seconds left, the last of his team-high 23 points, and Randallstown had two defensive stops from there to pull out a 70-69 win over No. 5 Patterson.

The 5-11 record attached to the UMBC men's basketball team is troubling and frustrating and perhaps avoidable. The Retrievers were ranked 302nd out of 345 Division I teams in free-throw percentage, converting 64.4 percent (224-of-348) as of last Friday. They haven't finished a season above 70 percent since the 2010-11 campaign when that squad sank 70.7 percent (345-of-488), and the team's inability to take advantage of free throws is worrisome to coach Aki Thomas. “It's a concern,” he said Monday.