Coach John McClung kept preaching and the Fairland Dragons listened.

With the Dragons struggling with their shooting from the field, they managed to get to the foul line including two free throws by Tyler Godby with four-tenths of a second to play that beat the Coal Grove Hornets 46-44 on Tuesday in an Ohio Valley Conference game.

“We kept preaching to go to the basket and score with the clock stopper

We executed the play but missed the shot, but we had enough time to get the rebound and get another chance,” said McClung. “They fouled us and Godby hit the free throws.”

Coal Grove tied the game with 26 seconds to play. Fairland called a timeout with 13 seconds left to set up the final play.

The Dragons missed a layup attempts, but Godby got the rebound, missed the putback, then got the rebound again and was fouled. He made both shots to give Fairland the win.

The Dragons connected on only 13-of-49 floor shots, but they converted 17-of-25 foul shots including the two winning baskets by Godby.

“We shot terrible the whole game, but we made some free throws when we had to,” said McClung. “We didn’t shoot the ball well but we found a way to win it.”

Cody Damron scored eight points in the first quarter as Coal Grove took a 15-9 lead.

Fairland reversed the scoring in the second quarter as Matt Bloomfield got five points and Adam Berry three and it was 24-24 at the half.

“Evan Salyes came off the bench and gave us some good minutes and big baskets,” said McClung. “(Chad) Fisher, Salyers and (Chris) Ward came in and gave us a spark in the second quarter.”

Godby scored four points in the third quarter as Fairland took a 34-32 lead.

The Dragons managed to make just one of nine shots in the fourth quarter but converted 9-of-12 from the line with Godby going 4-of-4.

Evan Ferguson scored six of Coal Grove’s 12 points in the quarter.

Godby finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds for Fairland (11-5, 5-2). Damron and Ferguson scored 12 points and Wayne Sparks 10 for the Hornets (8-8, 3-4).

Coal Grove 15 9 8 12 = 44

Fairland 9 15 10 12 = 46

COAL GROVE (8-8, 3-4): Rye Goodwin 1 0 0-0 2, Eric Edens 2 0 0-0 4, Evan Ferguson 3 1 3-5 12, Shannon Goodwin 1 0 2-2 4, Wayne Sparks 5 0 0-0 10, Cody Damron 3 2 0-0 12, Dane Haukedahl 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18-41 5-7 44. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 3-5. Rebounds: 28. Assists: 3. Turnovers: 14.

FAIRLAND (11-5, 5-2): Zach Jordan 1 1 1-4 6, Matt Bloomfield 1 1 0-0 5, Chris Ward 0 1 0-0 3, Chad Fisher 1 0 0-0 2, Cole Hatfield 1 0 4-4 6, Tyler Godby 3 0 4-4 10, Adam Berry 0 0 8-12 8, Evan Salyers 3 0 0-0 6. Totals: 13-49 17-25 46. Fouls: 9. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 3-10. Rebounds: 41 (Godby 11, Berry 8, Jordan 6, Hatfield 6, Fisher 5). Assists: 10 (Hatfield 6). Turnovers: 9.