Bangor’s Campbell nailed a jumper from the left side of the 3-point arc with nine seconds remaining and a Ryan Black lay-in bounced off the rim as the two schools wound up tied at 44 at the end of regulation.
In the four-minute OT period, the 4-1 Rams outscored 3-3 Brunswick 9-4 en route to a 53-48 Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference boys basketball win.
The overtime victory was made more improbable in that the Rams, who had to overcome a 42-38 third-quarter deficit to rival Brewer the night before in a 56-49 decision, never led or tied in regulation.
Also factor in this: Brunswick also scored the first four points of the extra period, only to see the Rams get a key 3-pointer from Sean Tocci and two free throws each for Hunter Boyce and Campbell to help pull out the win.
“It’s a make-miss league,” said Brunswick coach Todd Hanson. “I felt it was our game to win, but they made some big baskets and we did not.
“We certainly had our opportunities. And, when they called timeout with 20 seconds to go (in regulation), I thought it was too much time left to foul them. We were defending the ‘three’ well … I didn’t get a good look at his (Campbell’s) shot, but they said he was way out there. Still, I thought we played very well against a Bangor team that really likes to shoot the threes (six total) and we defended the perimeter well.”
In fact, the Dragons, who also posted a Friday night win over rival Mt. Ararat (62- 50), held a 43-37 advantage midway through the final quarter.
In a deliberate first half, spiced by turnovers and errant passing, Brunswick posted an 8-0 lead on a Blake Gordon put-back with 2:23 left.
Bangor didn’t get on the board until with 1:29 left on a Campbell trey. He finished with 22 points.
Brunswick led 10-9, 21-17 and 35-28 at the breaks, with Gordon (seven points) and center Brad Smith (five) leading the first-half charge.
The second half was more physical, but Brunswick hiked its lead up to 29-19 in the third period, prompting a Bangor timeout. The Dragons were sparked by reserves Brett Lancaster (putback, taking a charge) and Alex Bandouveres (strong inside presence), while the Rams got continued strong play from Campbell (22 points) and center Conner Adams (14 rebounds, 10 points).
A Campbell trey just nine seconds into the fourth quarter cut Brunswick’s advantage to 35-31 and an Adams drive with 6:15 left made it 37- 35. Two Hunter Boyce free throws cut the margin to 38- 37, but the Dragons regrouped behind Gordon, Bandouveres and Derek Devereaux to put on a 5-0 run for that 43-37 lead.
Gordon wound up with 15 points, while Smith had 10 and a like number of rebounds, and Bandouveres seven points and five rebounds.
Boyce chipped in with six points and five rebounds.
The Dragons are slated to host Lewiston this upcoming Friday at 7 p.m.
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