Mount St. Joseph made eight straight free throws in the final 1:19 of overtime to seal a 65-60 victory over visiting Calvert Hall Tuesday night.
The victory ensured a perfect season at home for the Gaels and ended a three-game losing streak to the Cardinals.
It was also a special night for Gael senior Phillip Lawrence, playing his final regular-season home game, and senior basketball manager Dan Majerowicz.
"I had family who came down from Philadelphia and my coach next year from Marist (University) was here to see me so it feels good to beat them on senior night," said the 6-foot-8 forward from Woodlawn.
Lawrence had nine points and forced a turnover in overtime when he dove to the floor to create a jump ball situation and give the Gaels a key possession.
"I thought Phil Lawrence played a really good basketball game at both ends of the floor," Mount St. Joe coach Pat Clatchey said. "It might not show up on the stat sheet, but he played a darn good game."
After the game was tied at 51-51 at the end of regulation, Calvert Hall took a 53-51 lead on two free throws by Julian Davis (11 points).
Charlie Jones (7 points) hit a perimeter shot to tie it 53-53 with 3:40 left.
It was the third clutch play of the night for Jones, who had an old-fashioned three-point play in the first quarter and a blocked shot on Justin Beck from the top of the key at the end of regulation.
That block came after Calvert Hall's Drew Edwards (9 points) blocked Jaylen Adams layup with 3.8 seconds to preserve the tie at the other end.
Tied at 53-all in overtime, St. Joe's Kameron Williams (15 points) took over.
While stumbling toward the basket, he regrouped and made a tough lay-in with 2:56 left for a 55-53 lead.
A minute later, the junior who scored his 1,000th career point in a quadruple-overtime loss to McDonogh on Feb. 3, used a shake and bake stutter-step to beat a defender to the basket for a bucket and a foul.
He missed the foul shot, but his Gael teammates picked him up the rest of the way.
After Adams made two free throws for a 59-53 lead with 1:19 left, Calvert Hall's Denzel Richardson (team-high 16 points, 5 steals) answered at the other end with a basket with 1:11 left.
Following a Gael turnover, Edwards made it 59-57 with 59 seconds left.
Two free throws by Jones pushed the lead back to four, 61-57, with 39.2 seconds remaining, but Wesley Blackwell (8 points) hit a three-pointer, off a pass from Davis, making it 61-60 with 29 seconds left.
Phil Booth (7 points, 8 assists) canned two free throws, upping the lead to 63-60 with 24.5 seconds remaining.
After a Cardinal turnover, Adams hit two more free throws with 11.3 for the final points.
"They are a good free throw shooting team so any time you are in a situation where you have to make them shoot free throws, you've got issues," Calvert Hall coach John Bauersfeld said.
Mount St. Joe connected on 17 of 21 free throws (81 percent).
"The foul line has been our friend all year long," Clatchey said. "We win a lot of games by protecting the ball and making free throws."
They had a chance to win the game from the free throw line because of the outstanding play of 6-foot-6 junior Lavon Long during the first three quarters and part of the fourth.
Long scored a game-high 23 points, grabbed eight rebounds and added three blocked shots and three steals before fouling out late in the fourth quarter.
"I thought Lavon Long was a monster," Clatchey said. "He was just a beast inside, active, putbacks, taking it to the rack."
"He's a good player," Bauersfeld added. "He was in foul trouble in the first game and that really helped us."
Calvert Hall won that first meeting at home by two points and the previous two losses to the Cardinals were by one or two points.
"Calvert Hall is a good team," Clatchey said. "We have a lot of respect for them. They have a lot of good players and a lot of good athletes."
One of those good athletes, Beck (14 points, 5 rebounds) fouled out in overtime.
"He's one of our two best players," said Bauersfeld, whose Cardinals dropped to 9-15.
Mount St. Joe improved to 22-5 overall and stayed in first place in the Baltimore Catholic League (11-2) and second in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference (12-3).