(Game played Jan. 17) ASHVILLE — Fairfield Union battled back from a 10-point halftime deficit and held off host Teays Valley in the final seconds to grab a 56-53 win Friday night.

“We talked about it at halftime that they’ve got one loss and are at the top of our league for a reason,” TV coach Brian Barnett said. “We talked that if we could come strong out of the gate and get a stop or two defensively and get a bucket or two to push the lead up, we’d be OK.

“Defensively, it didn’t happen but give credit to them, that’s why they’re 13-1.”

The Vikings (4-8, 3-4) led 15-14 after the first quarter and scored the final six points of the second to go up 31-21 at halftime.

“It was a great effort — a tremendous effort by everyone who went in. I think we played eight or nine that quarter and, defensively, we got after it,” Barnett said. “We got hands in the passing lane and hands on the ball … and it threw them out of rhythm. I thought our toughness was good, for the most part, all night but especially in the second quarter.”

The Falcons (13-1, 7-0) came out focused and outscored TV 12-5 through the first part of the third quarter. The Vikings stayed on top thanks to a pair of buckets from Garrett Meddock in the final minutes — but two three-pointers from FU’s Ryan Magill after Meddock’s baskets narrowed the Vikings’ lead to 40-39 entering the final quarter.

Magill opened the fourth with another three-pointer to give his team its first lead since the first period.

The teams exchanged scores and then a three from Riely Weiss gave TV its final lead of the game (45-44) with 6:49 left.

FU pushed its advantage to five but TV came back with a basket from Meddock and then a steal and layup from Clayton Knox to close the gap to one with 3:55 left.

Two free throws from FU’s Magill were followed by a basket from Trey Purdon, who was fouled on the shot but was unable to convert the free throw to tie the game with 2:17 left.

FU was able to control the clock and play solid defense before Charlie Bean went to the line with 36 seconds left and hit two free throws to make it a three-point game again.

Purdon scored again for the Vikings and then it was Andrew Moll going to the line for FU. He sank both his shots with 13 seconds on the clock to put the lead back at three.

The Vikings got a shot at tying the game but the three-point attempt bounced off the rim as time expired.

“We did not back down. We were not afraid tonight. We stepped right up in there and took care of business,” Barnett said. “We had two or three possessions where we didn’t get a shot to go down or get something where we needed it to be and they capitalized on it.”

Facing a Falcon squad that generally had four or all five of the players on the court standing 6-4 or better, the Vikings didn’t back down from going inside when the opportunity presented itself. But the Falcons played disciplined defense and TV only drew a few fouls in shooting just five free throws on the night.

Meddock had a few of his team-high 12 from drives to the hoop.

“Our kids are pretty tough-nosed. Garrett isn’t the biggest in stature, but he’s not afraid to take it in there at all,” Barnett said. “We were not afraid to go in there, but they’re length is hard to overcome.”

TV added 10 each from Purdon, Weiss and Cole Sauerbrun.

Magill led all scorers with 16 while FU got 14 from Chase Poston and 12 each from Moll and Huston Harrah.

The Falcons ended the night with a 30-23 rebounding edge as Harrah grabbed six and Magill and Moll each had five. Eli Burgett led TV with six and Purdon grabbed five.

TV returns to action Tuesday hosting Logan Elm to start the second half of the MSL Buckeye schedule while Fairfield Union is at Big Walnut tonight.

• The Falcons were 49-32 winners in the JV game.

Jackson Smith led the Vikings with 10 points, Jack Kennedy had six, Liam Sachs, Cameron Dyas-Rodgers and Peyton Weiler each had four and Landon Guisinger and Davion Henry had two each.

Fairfield Union 56, Teays Valley 53

Fairfield Union — Poston 6-0-14, Magill 5-2-16, Bean 0-2-2, Moll 4-4-12, Harrah 6-0-12. Three-point goals — Poston (2), Magill (4). Total — 21-44 8-11 56.

Teays Valley — Purdon 4-2-10, Meddock 5-0-12, Sauerbrun 4-0-10, Weiss 4-0-10, Knox 2-0-5, Primmer 2-0-4, Burgett 1-0-2. Three-point goals — Meddock (2), Sauerbrun (2), Weiss (2), Knox. Total — 22-48 2-5 53.

Quarter scores  1  2  3  4  F

Fairfield Union  14  7  18  17  56

Teays Valley  15  16  9  13  53