After watching county-leading Marriotts Ridge storm back from a 10-point fourth quarter deficit to force overtime, Reservoir found itself in a tough spot Tuesday.
Yet, despite being on the road and having lost all their momentum, the Gators dug down and found another gear.
Outscoring the Mustangs 14-0 in the extra period, Reservoir picked up a 78-64 victory and improved to 10-9 overall on the season.
"I thought the difference might have been at the end of the fourth quarter, when they had come all the way back and had a chance to take the lead, and we came through with a huge defensive stop," Reservoir coach Ryan Carson said. "I thought that stop gave us confidence to say 'OK, we can do this' and the guys carried that with them into overtime."
Carson added that the win, the team's fourth straight, was a groundbreaking one.
"That has to be one of the biggest wins in program history, especially since it was on the road," he said.
Matt Christian was huge all night for Reservoir, finishing with a season-high 20 points. But he was especially big in overtime, as he scored the first four points of the period to get the Gators going. "Matt has kind of found a fire inside of him that we've been waiting on," Carson said.
The 78 points was a season-high for Reservoir, nearly 27 more than its season average offensively. In addition to Christian, Joey Usher (18 points), Keon Booth (16) and Cody Toler (12) also reached double figures.
Their efforts helped open up that 10-point cushion, but the county-leading Mustangs didn't go down without a fight.
Arjun Patel, who matched a season-high with 36 points, led the comeback. The senior hit a trio of 3-pointers, giving him seven threes on the night, in the fourth quarter.
"It was one of those things were you just have to tip your cap to the guy," Carson said. "I feel like all seven of the threes he hit were contested shots. Sometimes there's not a lot you can do."
Unfortunately for the Mustangs, after getting all the way back, they simply ran out of steam. The loss snaps a seven game winning streak and drops them a game behind first-place Centennial in the standings.
Reservoir 78, Marriotts Ridge 64 OT
Re (8-8, 10-9): Jackson 4, Sponsky 4, Epps 4, Toler 12, Booth 16, Usher 18, Christian 20.
MR (13-3, 16-3): Harrison 1, Delaney 3, Miller 3, Davis 3, Durham 8, Tucker 10, Patel 36.
Half: 31-28 Re; End of Regulation: 64-64.
Other scores:
Centennial 72, Glenelg 64
After trailing by six points at the end of the first quarter and four at the end of the half, Centennial rebounded in the final 16 minutes to pull out an eight-point victory. Keonte Potts sparked the surge, scoring 24 of his game-high 28 points in the second half. After taking the lead by one, 44-43, at the end of the third quarter, Centennial never trailed again.
Omari Ringgold chipped in with 19 points for the Eagles, including hitting 9-10 from the foul line. Troy Spurrier led Glenelg with 16 points.
C (14-2, 15-4): Potts 28, Ringgold 19, Goldsmith 5, DeVries 3, Eads 2, Olmstead 3, Tinuoye 10.
G (5-11, 5-14): Spurrier 16, Oates 2, Dubbe 9, Hammert 2, Randle 5, Tolbert 12, Chahine 8, Livak 10.
Half: 27-23 G.
Long Reach 65, Wilde Lake 63 OT
The Lightning used their defense to help erase an eight-point fourth quarter deficit and force overtime, then held on in the extra period for the two-point victory. Daquan Hargrove led the way for Long Reach with 18 points, while Dante Garner led Wilde Lake with 24 points.
LR (9-7, 10-9): Allmond 2, Betters 2, Fisk 3, Hargrove 18, Leconte 6, Nowlin 13, Ross 2, Stewart 12, Taylor 7.
WL (11-5, 14-5): Handy 8, Barnes 5, Mynatt 9, Parris 4, Williams 2, Devaughn Garner 11, Dante Garner 24.
Half: 30-23 WL; End of Regulation: 55-55.
River Hill 55, Howard 49
RH (3-13, 3-16): Moody 18, Thomas 18, Jimenez 7, Sandler 6, Qiu 3, Richardson 1.
Ho (5-11, 5-14): Alexander 17, Dyer 10, J. Bartnik 6, Spalding 6, Marsh 5, J. Hawkins 3, Young 2, D. Bartnik 2.
Half: 27-20 RH.
Mt. Hebron 54, Hammond 52
MH (8-8, 9-8): Moses 26, Gilmore 16, Woodard 8, Glaze 2, Jenkins 2.
Ha (6-10, 7-12): Green 19, Turner 16, Echols 9, Woodland 4, Ross 2.
Glenelg Country 53, Loyola 45
GC (7-8, 13-11): Boyd 16, Powers 12, Moune 9, Barnard 5, Jones 5, Jove-Vives 3, Davis 2, Flores 1.
L: Bradley 8, Dunn 7, Floyd 6, Moran 6, Vigus 6, Cross 4, Janoskie 4, McManus 3, Boozer 1.
Half: 33-27 GC.
Chapelgate 53, St. Mary's 52
Isaiah Harris-Winn (17 points) scored off an inbounds play at the buzzer to lift the Yellowjackets to a one-point victory. The Chapelgate students rushed the floor after the winning shot went through the basket, improving the team to 6-10 in the MIAA B Conference.
Chika Obi had a season-high 18 points for the Yellowjackets in the victory.
Ch (6-10, 11-15): Frierson 3, Lawrence 6, Harris-Winn 17, Obi 18, Grandy 6, Sikka 3.
SM: Smith 13, Johnson 18, Powell 5, Brudish 7, Frymark 6, Bushee 3.
Half: 31-27 SM.