JJ for 3!

Two weeks ago, J.J. Lane's last-second 3-pointer didn't go down. On Thursday night, the Trojan guard wasn't going to miss again.

With the Southeast Conference boys basketball game tied 52-52 and time ticking down to the last second, Lane launched a 3-pointer over the outstretched arms of Fort Madison standouts Dayton Davis and Miles Dear.

It was nothing but net for a 55-52 win at the buzzer.

'J.J. had a chance to do that against Mt. Pleasant a few weeks ago,” Fairfield head coach Mick Flattery said. 'He said, ‘I wasn't going to miss again.'”

The Trojans saw a three-possession lead evaporate in the fourth quarter.

With just more than a minute left, Dear knocked in a 3-pointer to knot the game at 52 apiece.

Fairfield took its time and had to wind the last minute off the clock before the final shot.

Flattery helped the Trojans stay calm as he took a pair of timeouts in the final minute.

Flattery's second timeout happened with just more than 10 seconds remaining.

The play was set. The ball found Lane on the left wing. He let it fly.

'I really wasn't listening during the huddle,” Lane said. 'I was just like, ‘I've got to make this one.'”

Lane had the hot hand early, connecting on a couple of triples to help the Trojans go up 8-0 on the way to a 14-8 lead after the first quarter and 28-25 at halftime.

Davis scored 11 points in the third quarter for Fort Madison (7-7 overall, 3-5 SEC) helping the Hounds creep closer and closer to taking the lead. Fairfield led 39-38 after the third quarter, and lost the lead for a short while early in the fourth.

Lane scored a game-high 23 points to lead the Trojans (2-8 overall, 1-5 SEC). Max Weaton finished with 16. Tate Allen and Blake Holden scored five points apiece. Isaac Harris had four, and Evan Haines finished with two.

The Trojans' first league win snapped a six-game losing streak. That skid began on Jan. 5 with a 64-56 loss at Fort Madison in the first meeting between the two squads.

Speaking of last-second shots, the Trojans will host Albia in their next game, on Monday night. The Blue Demons beat the Trojans on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer last season.

That contest will kick off a stretch of three games in five days for the Trojans. Fairfield will play SEC games against Burlington on Feb. 2, and Keokuk on Feb. 5.

It was the first win of the year for Lane, who wasn't on the floor for the Trojans 56-36 win over Centerville on Jan. 4.

'It feels great,” Lane said. 'I'm so happy our practice tomorrow isn't going to be as hard as it would've been.”