Trailing 64-58 with four minutes remaining, the Overlea Falcons found themselves in an unfamiliar position -- behind.
But visiting Overlea (14-1), led by Troy Williams and Rob Cousins, went on a 22-0 run the rest of the game to record an 80-64 win over Sparrows Point (10-7, 9-4) in a Baltimore County 1A-2A league game.
Williams (seven points) and Cousins (six points) accounted for 13 of Overlea's points in the run. Williams led all scorers with 26 points. Cousins finished with 17.
The win keeps Overlea a game behind Milford Mill, which is undefeated in the league, for the league title. The Falcons visit Milford Mill on Feb. 21.
"This will help us tremendously," said Overlea coach Tom Gere. "We need games like this going down the stretch to help us prepare for Milford and the playoffs. We showed a lot of heart tonight."
So did Sparrows Point. The Pointers, much shorter and slower than Overlea kept rallying.
Sparrows Point took its first lead, 35-34, on a Tom Burleson jumper with 6:58 left in the third quarter.
The teams traded leads until the Pointers, behind a three-pointer by Griffin Dingle (20 points) and a basket each by Carnell Damon and Niam Young, took a 64-58 lead.
Then it was Overlea's turn. A Shawn Hampton lay-up and a Williams three-pointer cut the lead to 64-63, before Cousins' jumper from the top of the key gave Overlea the lead for good, 65-64 with 3:24 left.
Overlea never looked back, playing tough defense and exploiting Sparrows Point turnovers into easy baskets.
"We knew we could win it," said Williams. "We work on coming from behind in practice, and we kept our composure. We just had to calm down and get it done."