AUGUSTA — In a game in which Madison dominated at the free-throw line, Monmouth Academy made the shots that mattered most.

Tyler Day and Aiden Oliveira each sank two free throws in the final minute as the second-seeded Mustangs held off No. 3 Madison 50-46 in a Class D South boys basketball semifinal Wednesday at the Augusta Civic Center.

Monmouth (15-5) won despite being in foul trouble. Levi Laverdiere, who scored 19 points in a 54-50 quarterfinal win over Telstar on Saturday, fouled out in the fourth quarter after scoring only two points. Jacob Harmon reached four fouls late in the third quarter, and Rory Foyt picked up No. 4 early in the fourth.

The Mustangs advance to the regional final and will face Mt. Abram at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

Madison (13-7) went 20 for 26 from the free-throw line, including a 7-for-7 effort by Jacob Linketter, who led the Bulldogs with 15 points, and a 7-for-8 showing from Davyn Nichols.

“They really were able to say in the game with their free-throw shooting,” Monmouth coach Wade Hill said. “They outshot us 26 to 10 from the foul line; usually that’s a recipe for disaster in playoff basketball. I thought our kids did a nice job battling through adversity today.”

Hill said the depth of the Mustangs allowed them to stay in the game. He cited players such as Liam Ennis and Tyler Johnson, who don’t normally fill the stat sheets.

“We had guys coming off the bench in critical moments and hold down the fort to buy us minutes so we can get our starters, our closers, back in the game,” he said.

How it happened

After Linkletter sank a pair of free throws to tie the game 37-37 after three quarters, Monmouth scored the first seven points of the fourth on an Oliveira 3-pointer, a Gavin Parsons basket and two free throws by Day.

Madison clawed back and tied the game at 46-46 on — what else? — two Linkletter free throws with 1:07 remaining. But fouls against the Bulldogs’ Finn Haynie and Nichols enabled Oliveira and Day to seal the victory at the line.

Monmouth was 6 for 6 from the line in the fourth quarter.

“We stuck together and we battled,” said Day, a freshman who finished with 16 points. “We practice free throws every day, so I was just working on repetition from that. I just had to go up there and hit them.”

Madison coach Jason Furbush said getting to the line was a big part of his team’s strategy.

“Our goal going in was to pound the ball into the paint and get paint touches. I thought we could get to the foul line a lot against these guys, and we did,” Furbush said.

Key moment

In addition to his work from the line, the 5-foot-8 Oliveira pulled down six of his team-high seven rebounds in the second half.

“I’m a little guy; I like to sneak around and use my balance and snag the ball once in a while,” Oliveira said.

Notable quote

“We use a word called ‘family,’ and I think that’s it right there. We work as a family and we pull together.” — Oliveira

Stat leaders

Monmouth: Tyler Day 16 points; Aiden Oliveira 12 points, 7 rebounds

Madison: Jacob Linkletter 15 points , 7 for 7 from the line; Davyn Nichols 9 points, 7 for 8 from the line