The three-point shot is a great catch up tool when they find their way to the basket.

Make the shot, get back and play defense and create another opportunity.

For Fairfield Union, it worked… for a while. But, as the saying goes “live by the sword, die by the sword”.

Adam Bixler’s only basket of the game was a layup late in the third quarter to give the Chillicothe (6-3) a 36-25 lead. The Falcons closed out the period with two quick baskets by Derek Clark to close the gap to 36-30. Clark then added a free throw to start the fourth for a 6-0 Falcons run and whittle the margin down to five.

MaLik London slammed a dunk to stop the bleeding for the Cavs, but Josh Stewart and Sam Green hit from beyond the arc and erased the Falcons’ 11-point deficit
at 38-37 with 5:40 remaining in the game.

To that point, the Falcons had landed seven of 18 attempts from three-point range… but needed a couple more.

London took over the final minutes of the game. Defensively, he blocked three shots down the stretch, added another dunk, hit a jumper and capped it with a free throw to give the Cavaliers
the necessary cushion to snap their three game losing streak for the 46-41 win.

The Cavs helped Fairfield Union stay in the game by losing the turnover battle 17-9.

London finished as the game’s leading scorer with 21 points, and he earned every one. Each time London got the ball, Falcons swooped in and he constantly had a Fairfield Union player dogging him in the paint.

The win was true “total team” effort. The Cavs were playing without their leading offensive player, Zach Johnson, who is serving a two game suspension. Aaron Elliott (12 points) answered a couple of Fairfield Union runs with 3’s of his own while Jalen Jones and Marcus Dunn chipped in 3 points apiece and Pierce Knisley came off the bench for a quick 5 points just before half time.

Clark paced the Falcons attack with 18 points.

The Cavs will need more help across the board when they host Warren (8-0) next Friday. The Warriors were 54-50 winners over Fort Frye Friday night.

NOTE: A correction to the Cavs schedule posted on wbex.com, the Warren game had originally posted as a road game this week. The correct schedule has Warren at Chillicothe January 6th and the Cavs headed to Vincent on February 17th.