FCC men showing they are ready, able

That's because Monroe (New York) enjoyed a 16-point lead over the Cougars in the first half.

"Earlier in the year, this would've went from 16 to 30," Hill said. "We weren't ready to win."

How times have changed. After storming back into the game, clawing to gain the late lead and seeing Monroe's potential game-tying 3-pointer hit off the rim in the final seconds, FCC won its fourth straight, 73-70.

Such a streak is a nice switch for an FCC team that lost its first six games this season.

"We were young and dumb early in the year, we didn't understand what it really took to win at this level," Hill said. "We didn't understand that teams win basketball games at this level, not individuals."

Collectively, this group began to pile up wins, and they climbed to .500 — they're 10-10 — with Monday's win.

"Now we're in a situation where I think we'll be in every game to win as long as we don't beat ourselves," Hill said. "And I think we're past beating ourselves."

Considering the deficit they erased and the quality of their opponent — Monroe earned a trip to last season's NJCAA Division I national tournament — this victory was a testament to FCC's progress.

"At this point in the year, it's a good measuring stick for us. Where are we?" Hill said. "And our basketball team is playing our best ball at the right time of the year. Hopefully, we can continue it and give ourselves an opportunity down the stretch run of the season."

Hill thought his players were trying to do too much early on because of Monroe's credentials. When an FCC turnover led to a fast-break layup by Monroe's Lawahn Lewis, the Cougars trailed 30-14 with a little over eight minutes left in the first half.

Echoing Hill's comments about such a seemingly daunting deficit, FCC freshman Dashon Bell said, "In the beginning of the season, we would've folded."

But Monday, the Cougars corrected problems that contributed to their early woes.

They took better care of the ball, preventing turnovers that led to fast-break points, and looked for open teammates. Morris Robinson led the Cougars with four assists, and several others made nice feeds.

"In the beginning of the season, we were all selfish," Bell said. "And I feel like we're just coming together day-by-day."

On defense, they made it harder for Monroe to get good looks inside the paint and grabbed rebounds instead of giving up so many second shots.

"We came back one stop at a time," FCC sophomore Rashard Lewis said. "At halftime, we knew it was going to take stops to get back into the game, so we came back and got the stops. Stop, score, stop, score and back in the game."

Hill said FCC's defense starts with guards, who limit penetration and contest jumpers. When the Mustangs got the ball inside the paint, they had to tangle with post players like Jacob McIntosh, who had eight rebounds and five blocks.

FCC cut Monroe's lead to 40-34 at halftime, tied the game for the first time at 42 when Lewis hit a 3-pointer with 16:05 left, and engaged in a tight battle the rest of the way.

Soon after FCC's Josiah Jones hit his second 3-pointer in less than a minute, the Cougars took the lead for good during a bizarre sequence that occurred with 5:50 left.

After getting fouled, Lewis had to wait to take his one-and-one foul shots because Monroe and FCC both were assessed technical fouls. When Lewis finally took his one-and-one shots, he made them both to give the Cougars a 59-57 lead.

Foul shots were crucial for the Cougars, who shot 21-of-26 from the line. Bell hit 8-of-9 free throws in the final 4:53, finishing with a game-high 16 points.

"If you miss, just get ready to come out of the game, and you don't want to come out of the game," he said of free throws. "You got to hit 'em."

Lewis had 15 points and eight rebounds, plus he defended on the potential game-tying 3 that hit off the rim just before the final buzzer.

"We switched up to a defense we hadn't shown them all game, kind of matching up out of a 1-2-2 set," Hill said. "We just wanted to contest the 3 and didn't want to foul at the rim. Our guys executed."

When Lewis saw the shot go up, he said, "Uh-oh," but he and his team avoided overtime.

Lewis redshirted last season, when the Cougars went 22-8, but he played two seasons ago.

"My first year here was Coach Hill's first year here," he said. "We went through a rough season, and now we're coming through a positive season."