It doesn't take a deep dive into the statistics to find out where the Helias Crusaders won Tuesday night's game - just a dip in the shallow end will do.
The Crusaders had more free-throw attempts than field-goal attempts - making a whopping 26-of-37 from the charity stripe - and rode that to a 55-43 victory against the Upper Arlington (Ohio) Golden Bears.
Heading into the winner's bracket semifinal game at Fleming Fieldhouse, the Crusaders knew they wanted to attack the basket and make some trips to the free-throw line. So despite going just 13-of-32 from the field, the Crusaders had more than enough offense to earn a trip to the event's championship game.
Ahead 40-32 after three quarters, Helias made 13 of its first 14 free throws in the fourth quarter to hold Upper Arlington at bay. The Crusaders had just one field goal in the fourth - attempting just three shots - and that came on a layup by Adam Bax with 20 seconds left in the contest.
"Our goal every season, and every game, is to make more free throws than the opponent attempts," Helias head coach Josh Buffington said. "We attacked all night long. From the start, we just said we had to go right at those guys, and our kids were ready to play."
Landon Harrison was one of two big beneficiaries for the Crusaders, as he was a perfect 10-of-10 from the line, including 8-of-8 in the fourth quarter.
"That's one of our big things we try to do coming in, get to the line, because we know we have free-throw shooters who can hit them down the stretch," said Harrison, who narrowly missed a perfect shooting night by going 3-of-4 from the field. "We stuck to the plan and we got to the line and got the win."
Helias' Sam Husting went 8-of-10 from the line to tie Harrison for game-high honors with 16 points.
"When we build a lead late in the game, we feel like we can extend it at the line," Buffington said. "We've got two great lead ballhandlers in Sammy and Landon that you can't take it from, and a very smart team around them with great size that can be good outlets for them if they do get trapped.
"It's definitely something very nice to fall back on, knowing the guys are talented enough and skilled enough to hit the free throws, but they're guys who are tough enough mentally to want the ball in their hands and want to be that guy on the line."
The get-to-the-line plan worked almost immediately. Despite making just 6-of-17 from the field in first half, the Crusaders made 11-of-15 free throws and never trailed after falling in an early 4-0 hole. They were up 14-10 after one quarter and 25-22 at halftime.
"The way (the Golden Bears) play, executing so well, they're pretty much a machine out there," Buffington said. "And defensively they are so physical and always in position. So we knew this was going to be a game of possessions. ... We had to value every single possession on both ends of the floor to give ourselves a chance to beat that team."
The Golden Bears got within two points of the Crusaders just a minute into the third quarter, but that would be as close as they would get the rest of the way.
"We were confident the whole game that we were going to win," Harrison said. "Coming in at halftime, going out for the third quarter, we knew we were going to win the game. We hit big shots and we got key stops, and we held them to 43 points, which is big."
Dane Goodwin, a sophomore who committed to Ohio State last summer, had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Golden Bears. Onno Stegner, a senior who has signed with Western Carolina, had a team-high 11 points. D.J. Tyree chipped in 10 points.
"We beat a really good basketball team tonight - I'm very proud of our guys and we'll celebrate this one for a little bit," Buffington said. "Then we'll have to refocus for (today). It's pretty sweet to be in the championship game in two years in a row in this event.
"(Assistant) coach Joe (Rothweiler) and I were talking inside the last minute of the game when it looked like we were going to seal the deal that this is possibly one of the best wins in our eight years here. It was over a great team, an undefeated team, and one of the most solid programs in the state of Ohio, year-in and year-out."
Helias will play Father Tolton at 7 p.m. today for the championship.