Madison Outlasts Chatham In Epic 4OT Marathon

CHATHAM – Seven minutes into the fourth overtime, Aaron Fant had finally had enough.

Madison's junior point guard had watched rival Chatham steal a 37-35 win over the Dodgers Saturday in the Morris County Tournament.

Wednesday night, as Madison clawed back from deficits at the end of regulation and three overtime periods, Fant realized that it was his time.

"We were a little out of control," Fant said. "I had to slow it down, that's my job as a point guard. And sometimes I have to look for my own shot."

Fant's turnaround seven-footer with 32 seconds to play gave the Dodgers the lead for good, and Madison outlasted its next-door rival in quadruple overtime, 70-67, at Chatham High School.

The point guard finished with 16 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists. Matt McHale led Madison (18-2, 10-1 NJAC-Independence) with 19 points.

Brian Ballard and Chris Conroy each scored 23 points for the Cougars.

"We know them, they know us," said Madison coach Bill Librera. "It's more than a border war, more than a local rivalry. Every day we're practicing against a team like them."

Fant's turnaround shot was his second straight fruitful drive to the basket in the fourth overtime–the crucial difference on a night when Madison shot 3-for-18 from 3-point range.

His two free throws with 1:19 to play tied the score at 65-65. Chatham's Adam Kovonuk missed a long three on the Cougars' next possession, and Fant grabbed a difficult long rebound in traffic.

"We didn't talk about it much, but I knew Aaron wanted a better performance (than Saturday)," Librera said. "It was a nice game to have, coming right back against the same team on their floor. It was a character game, and Aaron has a ton of character."

With just over 30 seconds to go he took control of the ball on the wing, dribbled into the paint inside the elbow, spun, jumped and released a perfect shot to give Madison its first lead since early in the second overtime.

"We had to start getting to the rim," Fant said. "When we get to the rim, we're going to draw a foul, or other good things will happen."

Fant's tight defense then forced Jonathan Berntsen to travel with 15.6 seconds left. Free throws from Rob Savacool and Fant edged Madison's lead to five before Berntsen's layup at the buzzer provided the final margin.

The win gives the Dodgers partial consolation for their county tournament defeat–and a regular-season sweep of the Cougars (13-9, 6-6)–and sets Madison up for a chance to clinch at least a share of the Independence Division title.

It was an epic struggle which saw the lead change hands 16 times, and it was the third straight nailbiter between the two rivals.

Madison beat Chatham, 49-47, in Madison Jan. 14, in addition to Saturday's thriller.

Wednesday, The Dodgers erased a late three-point deficit on Mike Haughey's 3-pointer, and took the lead on Jake Meister's three-point play with 1:08 left in regulation.

After Ballard coolly tied the game at 48-48 with a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 35 seconds left, the Dodgers had the final shot.

Fant's last-second 3-pointer hit back iron–just as it did Saturday–but this time, there was still time on the clock.

Meister–who rebounded from his nightmarish 1-for-16 shooting performance Saturday with 13 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 assists–brought in an offensive rebound with 2.5 seconds to play. He spun to attempt a game-winning layup, but was fouled–apparently on the way up–as the clock expired.

However, referees ruled that the foul occurred on the floor and, since it was Chatham's fifth team foul of the second half, the Dodgers were not awarded free throws.

"The referee came over and told me that Jake was being fouled throughout the play," Librera said. "He wanted the game to end on the floor, and I respect that."

Madison lived dangerously, trailing by two points in the final 90 seconds of all four overtimes, but made a play to tie it every time.

"We had our chances," said Chatham coach Todd Ervin. "We made a couple bad decisions when we had a chance to win. And then in the last overtime, they made the better decisions and the bigger plays."

Chatham had its best chance to win in the first overtime period.

Fant's potential three-point play with 28.4 seconds left could have given Madison the lead, but Fant missed the free throw.

What happened next was enough to give Librera a case of deja vu: on the Cougars' next possession, Conroy drove to the hoop and was fouled with 4.5 seconds left. Chatham's senior guard could have capped his second brilliant performance against Madison in four days with two more game-clinching free throws.

But unlike Saturday, Conroy missed both–the second rimming out just barely–and the game went to double overtime.

"He played great," Ervin said. "He missed a couple free throws, but he does so much for us, I don't know where we'd be without him."

Meister's driving layup with 54 seconds left in the second OT tied it at 57-57, but he missed a potential game-winner in the closing seconds.

After Fant tied the game at 61-61 in the third overtime, Chatham ran down nearly all of the final 1:25 before Ballard forced a tough contested 3-pointer. Eddie McAndrew corralled the rebound to force a fourth overtime.

Madison had to play almost all of the final two overtime periods without McHale, who fouled out early in the third. But it was the junior forward who created much of the Dodgers' offense during the third quarter.

McHale was just about the only Dodger whose jump shot was on Wednesday night, scoring nine of his 19 away from the basket. He scored Madison's final eight points of the third quarter, helping to cut a 28-23 deficit to 34-33.

"We made some alterations from Saturday, one of which was putting Matt on the perimeter," Librera said. "On Saturday, he was our mismatch. And we used that tonight."

The Dodgers ended their two-game losing streak with another gutty victory, their eighth by seven points or less this season. And while Chatham earned county tournament bragging rights, surviving the Cougars kept alive Madison's hopes for their first conference title in Librera's four seasons.

If Madison defeats Dover Thursday night, they will clinch at least a share of the Independence title with Hanover Park. Both teams have one loss in league play, to each other. The Dodgers would clinch an outright league title with a win and a Hanover Park loss to Parsippany Thursday.

NOTES
There are still three games left in Madison's regular season, but the Dodgers already know their fate following their regular-season finale next Thursday.

The NJSIAA released the 2010 state tournament pairings over the weekend, and Madison was awarded the top seed in North Jersey, Section 2, Group II based on their won-loss record. That means the Dodgers will hold home-court advantage for as long as they remain alive, up until the sectional final (which is held at a neutral court).

Madison opens state tournament play with a familiar foe: 16th-seeded Parsippany at Madison High School on Tuesday, March 2. The Dodgers defeated the Red Hawks twice this season–51-45 on Dec. 22 and 52-43 on Jan. 28.

The winner of that game will advance to play March 4 against the winner of No. 8 seed Newark Tech and No. 9 seed Bernards.

NEXT UP
The Dodgers will get little rest, as they hit the road again for a Thursday-night clash with Independence Division opponent Dover (4-17, 1-9). Tip time is set for 7 p.m. at Dover High School. Madison beat Dover in the teams' first meeting, 49-26, on Jan. 22.

SCORING SUMMARY
Madison   13  10  10  15  6  3  4  9  -  70
Chatham    9   17   8   14  6  3  4  6  -  67

INDIVIDUAL SCORING
MAD- Matt McHale 19, Aaron Fant 16, Jake Meister 13, Robbie Savacool 7, Matt Gilbert 6, Eddie McAndrew 4, Mike Haughey 3, Justin Goodwin 2
CHAT- Brian Ballard 23, Chris Conroy 23, Kevin Giannattasio 9, Brendan Damodaran 5, Adam Parisella 3, Casey Gill 2, Jonathan Berntsen 2