The Longest Game: Red Wolves victorious in quirk filled home finale

In a bizarre game, Marcus Hooten and Trey Finn surpassed the 20-point barrier Saturday night to lead Arkansas State past Florida International, 77-67, in the final home game of the season.

"I feel like I've coached three games [tonight]," cracked head coach John Brady following the game.

With constant interruptions stemming from 38 fouls and recurring difficulties with the game clock, which stopped working  in the closing minutes of the first half and never to return, few would blame him.

"There was so much going on with the clock and technical fouls and referees calling us to the huddle. It seemed like it was a real long game," echoed Finn.

The contest saw five technical fouls, including two from FIU guard Phil Taylor, who was ejected from the game with 15:27 remaining in the second half after taunting ASU's bench.

The timing was crucial, as FIU, aided largely by four three-pointers in the first five minutes of the second half from Taylor, had reduced a nine-point halftime deficit to two.

After Finn converted the technical, FIU guard DeJuan Wright nailed another three-pointer to level the game at 46-46.

"I never knew the score was tied because I didn't know what the score was [because of the game clock]. Then [Taylor] comes down and taunts our bench for the second time and gets thrown out of the game," Brady said. "That's just unheard of, uncalled for. It's just bizarre that a team would behave in that manner."

Taylor's exit proved helpful to ASU's defense, which switched from zone to man coverage and quickly regained a lead they clung to for the rest of the game as FIU continued to press forward.

Central to the Red Wolves' offensive efforts was the play of Finn and Hooten, who both earned praise from Brady.

Finn posted 20 points and six assists, while Hooten shot 9-12 to record a career-high 28 points, including 17 in the first half.

"Both of those guys give us stability [when they play consistently]. That's what we haven't had all year," he said.

Despite praising his offense, which shot 53 percent from the floor, Brady was critical of a defensive performance that allowed the Panthers to hit 47 percent of their field goals.

"We didn't do a good enough job against FIU tonight. We got a couple of stops at the end, and we rebounded the ball okay at the end, but our opponent's field-goal stat is too high," he said. "I hope we can correct that. We need defensively to make people miss more."

The win gives the Red Wolves (11-16, 5-9), who have won just two of 14 away games this season, some momentum as they head back out on the road for their final pair of matches this season: Western Kentucky and Arkansas-Little Rock.

"[The win against FIU] means a lot. We'll be able to take this confidence down to Western Kentucky. It's not easy to win there. We know what kind of environment it is down there, so hopefully we'll come out with a victory also," Finn said.

ASU is set to take on WKU on Thursday, while they will face down UALR on Saturday. Both games are set for a 7 p.m. tipoff.