WHEW!

WHEW!

Lions lose lead late but triumph in OT
Story by Ken DeLaat photos by Alexis Mercer

Oakridge 60 Newaygo 62


It seemed as if the Lions somehow struggled with success in their matchup with Oakridge.
After scoring the first 11 points of the game and leading by as much as 14 in the first quarter the Eagles shot themselves back in the game with three pointers to pull within 4 before Bryce Decker nailed a triple and Caris Nelson added a bucket and the teams went to halftime with Newaygo up 9. 

After intermission the Lions pulled ahead and held a 16 point edge at one point before finishing the period up 13. The early 4th saw them keep the Eagles at bay but Oakridge came out of a timeout with 6 minutes left and slapped an effective press on Newaygo carving the lead down to 4  halfway through the quarter. 

The Lions turned cold at the charity stripe (just 4 of 13 down the stretch)  and Oakridge was poised to take the lead  trailing by just one and in possession of the ball. Decker came through with a huge block to save the lead but a late foul sent Oakridge to the line and after converting both the game went to overtime tied at 54.

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A split at the foul line gave Oakridge their first lead of the game early in OT but Nelson put the Lions back up one with a bucket. Oakridge tripled to regain the lead and Decker hit one off a rebound to tie it up at 58. A stop on the other end led to another Decker bucket but yet another foul sent the Eagles to the line with a shot at tying and they converted with 30 seconds left.  

Newaygo called time then brought the ball down against intense defensive pressure. With time running out Decker found an open Josiah Long under the basket and shot him a pass that Long scooped up and in at the buzzer and the Lions escaped with the win.

Coach Jason Long said about the evening: “This non-conference game turned into a thriller on the court Thursday night.  Newaygo got out to a quick start and maintained close to a ten point lead until the fourth quarter where Oakridge made a run that brought the teams to a draw after four quarters and a chance to play overtime. The overtime session went back and forth looking like whoever had the ball last would win. This would hold true as Josiah Long ended up with a loose ball at the block and muscled up the game winner as time expired.”  

Bryce Decker had a big offensive night scoring 28 points and pulling down 12 rebounds while Josiah Long and Caris Nelson added 10 points each.  Grant Harkness was big on the glass with 8 rebounds and Dyllan Bazzett dished out 5 assists.

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