Rather than risk enduring Friday the 13th bad luck at the foul line, Newtown High School boys' basketball Coach Tim Tallcouch reached deep for a tactic to help his players execute from the charity stripe in the January 13 clash with visiting Kolbe Cathedral.

"He just told us to pick somewhere exotic, somewhere tropical, and asked us to picture our favorite vacation spot. It really relaxes us on the line and we went and got the job done," said Newtown's Tom Cotton, who hit two big free throws down the stretch as the Nighthawks sealed a 49-44 victory over the Cougars.

The Nighthawks sank ten consecutive shots from the charity stripe in a span of a little more than two minutes late in the fourth quarter beginning when Nick Weiland hit a clutch front end one and one shot and his second attempt to turn a one-point deficit into a 41-40 Newtown lead with 2:36 left.

After Kolbe reclaimed the lead, Derek Ivey drained two freebies, making it 43-42, with 1:36 left. Cotton followed with his two dream vacation moment contributions for a three-point advantage with 1:05 left.

Evan Eggleston followed with a defensive rebound and subsequent free throws with 44 seconds to go, and Sam Grossano put the game on ice with two more foul shots for a seven-point cushion with 29 ticks remaining on the scoreboard clock.

Five different players, five hot-weather vacation spots, and ten points to seal the deal.

"It started with Hawaii - and the whole nine yards," said Tallcouch, adding that he tried to calm his players during timeouts and stoppages when they jogged over to the sideline for the quick, unusual, and effective pep talks.

Newtown has had bad luck from the foul line at times, including in a loss to Kolbe earlier this season.

"After that first game we talked about it. You can't leave the game on the free throw line," the Newtown coach said. "Tonight, when it counted, we stepped up."

Newtown hit 18 of 27 foul shots overall - not a bad night at the line but it was that ten in a row that made the difference, and it came after Tallcouch started what is sure to be a tactic the Nighthawks will use again.

As the temperature drops outside, the Hawks hope they continue to heat up from the foul line and make a run at the playoffs.

Kolbe held the early lead in this game. Newtown seized its first advantage just before the midpoint of the second quarter, when Ivey's bucket made it a 20-19 game. The Hawks went up 24-19 and held a 24-23 lead heading into halftime.

Cotton opened the second-half scoring with a 3-pointer. Grossano's stop and pop shot extended the lead to 30-23. Kolbe didn't score until hitting a pair of foul shots more than three minutes into the third. The Nighthawks held a 34-31 advantage going into the fourth.

Newtown led until a pair of Cougar free throws gave the visitors a 40-39 edge with 2:58 left.

Tallcouch was proud of the way all of his players performed, and noted that Grossano did a nice job defending Kolbe's biggest scoring threat.  The coach added that his team, led by Ivey, was strong on the boards and in hustling for loose balls.

Ivey had seven rebounds, Grossano pulled down six, and Egggleston and Weiland had five and four, respectively.

Newtown started the season winless in five games, most of which were close ones, and have won two of three.

"We're definitely beginning to play more as a team, we're playing committed, and we're finding ways to win where we weren't earlier in the season," Tallcouch said.

"We're building momentum. As long as we do that we think we can make the states and SWCs," said Ivey, referring to the state and South-West Conference tournaments.

Grossano had 13 points, Ivey scored nine, Tucker Garrity had eight, Todd Petersen and Cotton each dropped in five, Eggleston scored four, and Weiland and Brian Montoya contributed three and two, respectively.

Grossano came away with five steals, and Garrity had three steals to go along with four assists, and Eggleston dished out four assists.