GOSHEN - Friday night's Warsaw boys basketball game at Northern Lakes Conference rival Goshen wasn't a boxing match, but this is how 21st-year Tiger coach Al Rhodes described it: "We fought back, but it was like a fighter who keeps fighting while he's getting his head knocked off."

In a battle of NLC heavyweights - Warsaw, Goshen and Plymouth entered this weekend as the only undefeated teams in the conference - Warsaw hung around as long as it could, and then Goshen landed the knockout punch, going on to win 61-49.

With 2:12 remaining in the game and Goshen up 51-43, Redskin 6-foot-6 sophomore center Andrew Hershberger rebounded his own miss for two. Thirty seconds later he connected on 1 of 2 free throws, followed by a dunk and free throw 15 seconds later that put the Tigers down 57-43.

Hershberger's dunk was the nail in the coffin, but what may have been the clear knockout punch was Goshen's performance at the free throw line. Warsaw committed 24 fouls; Goshen connected on 28 of 36 free throws, while the Tigers made 29 field goals and free throws combined.

Goshen, which extended its win streak to five games, is 6-5 overall and 3-0 in the NLC; the Tigers, whose six-game win streak was snapped, fall to 7-4 and 2-1.

"First of all, I take my hat off to Goshen's coaching staff and players, they did a superb job in preparing for the game," Rhodes said. "They were much hungrier than we were. It was like we were reeling from punches the whole game."

The two teams traded baskets in the first quarter, with the Redskins staking a 12-10 lead after the first eight minutes. The Redskins came out swinging in the second stanza, with 5-11 junior guard Jeremiah Gamauf sinking a three-pointer at the 5:41 mark that gave the Redskins a 22-11 lead.

Warsaw responded with a run of its own, and with 2:29 remaining in the first half, 6-7 senior center Paul Finnegan, playing his first game of the season after a 10-game suspension for disciplinary reasons, tied the game at 22.

Senior guard Jeremiah Latham made good on 1 of 2 free throws with five ticks on the first-half clock, and Goshen went to the locker room with a 23-22 advantage.

"I felt fortunate to only be down one at halftime," Rhodes said. "I felt pretty good."

Rhodes may have felt good, but Goshen was right where it wanted to be. When holding their opponents below 60 points this season, the Redskins were 5-0.

Finnegan knotted the game at 37 with 1 of 2 free throws at the 2:29 mark of the third quarter, but the Redskins headed into the final frame with a 42-38 lead.

In his first game back, Finnegan found himself in the starting lineup and tallied nine points, six rebounds and a steal. Classmate Trent Martin added nine points as well for the Tigers, connecting on 3 of 5 attempts from three-point range. Senior Josh Buck, Warsaw's leading scorer at 17.5 points per game, was held to eight.

"We didn't execute on offense or defense," Rhodes said. "Things were never completely right tonight. We weren't able to generate offense inside or generate offense outside."

Warsaw finished the game 16 of 37 from the field and 13 of 21 from the free throw line.

While the Tigers were without a double-figure scorer, Goshen finished with three.

Hershberger led all scorers with 21 points, while Gamauf, who was 10 of 10 at the charity stripe, added 17. Six-foot-2 senior Brandon Hughes chipped in with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Finnegan scored the first basket of the final frame, cutting Goshen's lead to 42-40, but the Redskins got a basket from Gamauf, and then hit some free throws to take a 51-42 lead with 2:55 remaining.

With Warsaw in foul trouble in the fouth quarter - Jerad Shaw and Brian Johnson fouled out, while Buck, Finnegan and Brad Seiss all had four - the Redskins connected on 13 of 17 free throws.

"The fourth quarter did us in," Rhodes said. "We had poor shot selection, and Goshen did a good job rebounding. As individuals we tried to do too much."

GOSHEN 61, WARSAW 49

Warsaw (7-4) 10 12 16 11 - 49

Goshen (6-5) 12 11 19 19 - 61

Warsaw FG FT R S Pts.

Seiss (G) 3-5 0-0 4 0 6

Martin (G) 3-5 0-0 0 0 9

Johnson (F) 1-1 0-1 4 2 2

Finnegan (C) 4-8 1-2 6 1 9

Buck (F) 2-10 3-4 4 4 8

C. Clay 2-2 1-2 1 1 5

Fawley 0-1 1-2 0 0 1

G. Clay 1-2 4-6 1 0 6

Foster 0-0 1-2 0 0 1

Shaw 0-2 0-0 2 0 0

Fussle 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Knepper 0-1 2-2 1 0 2

DeGeeter 0-0 0-0 1 0 0

Totals 16-37 13-21 10 8 49

Goshen FG FT R S Pts.

Latham (G) 0-2 3-6 6 1 3

Gamauf (G) 3-8 10-10 1 2 17

Graber (F) 1-3 4-6 10 2 6

Hughes (F) 4-10 5-6 3 1 13

Hershberger (C) 8-16 5-6 8 0 21

McCloughen 0-0 1-2 0 0 1

Szynal 0-0 0-0 1 0 0

Lewallen 0-0 0-0 1 0 0

Cotherman 0-1 0-0 2 0 0

Mattern 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Ott 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Totals 12-40 28-36 32 6 61

Three-point goals - Warsaw 4-9 (Martin 3-5, Buck 1-3, Fawley 0-1), Goshen 1-5 (Gamauf 1-2, Hughes 0-2, Latham 0-1). Turnovers - Warsaw 11, Goshen 10. Fouls - Warsaw 24, Goshen 17. Fouled out - Shaw, Johnson.

JV - Warsaw 33, Goshen 31

Warsaw (10-0) - Ryan DeGeeter 15, Erik Fussle 10, Geoff Walmer 3, William Knepper 3, Riley Fuller 2

Goshen (5-6) - Blair Mattern 9, Matt Lewallen 8, Zack Shultz 5, Stephen Ott 4, Cody Coppotelli 2, Nick McCloughen 2 [[In-content Ad]]