Heavyweight bout

NEW BREMEN - In a battle of Midwest Athletic Conference unbeatens, New Bremen and Versailles didn't disappoint.

New Bremen led for 28:39 in regulation before the Tigers tied it at 49 with 21.8 seconds left, kicking off a wild back-and-forth that spanned two overtimes and went down to the final shot before the Cardinals came away with a 61-58 boys basketball win at the Nest on Friday.

"To win the league, you've got to take steps," New Bremen coach Cory Stephens said. "Today's step was Versailles."

With the win, New Bremen (13-3, 6-0 MAC) is alone in first place in the MAC with three conference games left.

New Bremen took a nine-point lead just before halftime after Dave Homan drew a charge and hit a long three on a pass from Aaron Thieman with four seconds left, but watched that lead dwindle to three by the start of the fourth. The Cardinals stretched it back to seven after Nick Alig swished a three and Dave Homan hit a free throw, but Versailles' Eli McEldowney answered with a layup and Ben Ruhenkamp hit both ends of a one-and-one to cut the lead to 46-43 with 5:18 left.

The Cardinals got another free throw from Reece Busse, but Connor Stonebraker matched it on ether other end and New Bremen went 1-for-4 from the line in the next two minutes. Jaydon Litten, the MAC's second-leading scorer, hit a trey a step or two behind the arc at the top of the key, and the Tigers went into timeout down one with 1:55 left.

Homan missed the front half of a one-and-one before a Versailles pass bounced out of bounds to give the Cardinals possession again with 44.6 seconds left. Busse went to the line and hit one of his two free throws, but Litten broke through for the tying layup with 21.8 seconds left.

Coming out of a timeout, Homan got the ball and drove the lane, but Stonebraker made a perfectly timed leap and blocked the ball into the backboard, then grabbed the rebound and the Tigers called timeout with 2.9 seconds left to set up for one last shot.

As Stonebraker and Busse contended for the inbounds pass, the ball got knocked back across mid-court. Stonebraker scooped it up and heaved a shot, but the referees whistled the play dead with 0.4 seconds left on the clock and ruled an over-and-back that would give New Bremen the last shot. After a discussion, they changed the call, wiped the final 0.4 seconds off the clock, and sent the game to overtime.

Nathan Rindler put New Bremen in front less than 30 seconds into overtime and the Tigers turned the ball over, but Alig missed a three, Stonebraker grabbed the rebound, and Homan was called for his third foul, sending Noah McEldowney to the line. With the Cardinals in the double bonus, McEldowney drained both free throws to tie the game.

Litten hit two more free throws after another foul on Homan, putting Versailles up for the first time with 2:19 left in overtime. Homan hit one of two free throws on the other end, then forced a steal, grabbed the loose ball, and tossed it to Busse, who slammed home a layup to put New Bremen back in front.

"You know what you're going to get out of David every night," Stephens said. "Whether it's him scoring buckets or him getting stops, just putting his body on the line every night, that's what he does for us. That's what he's done his whole career."

Noah McEldowney drew another foul and hit one of his free throws to tie it up at 54 before Homan drew a foul on Stonebraker and canned another free throw to put the Cardinals up 55-54. After Eli McEldowney missed a shot, Litten grabbed the rebound and Homan was called for a foul, sending him to the bench and Litten to the line. Litten hit the first and missed the second, with Busse grabbing the rebound.

After two timeouts, the Cardinals inbounded the ball with 9.8 seconds left and started passing around the arc, looking for a shot. Finding none, Bergman took a tough shot from the right side that clunked off the side of the backboard to send the game into another overtime.

"The first overtime, I thought we had a good look there too," Stephens said. "They were up in the gap, took away our reversal, but we would've had a good look there too."

Busse put New Bremen up with a layup 22 seconds into the second overtime period, Noah McEldowney answered from the line, and the two teams traded turnovers and missed threes before Bergman drove around Lucas Stammen for a layup to make it 59-57. Noah McEldowney went back to the line, hit the first free throw and missed the second to leave the Cardinals clinging to a one-point lead.

They passed the ball around, draining more than a minute off the clock, with Alig passing up an open three in the corner, before Stammen fouled with 38.1 seconds left and Bergman went to the line, where he hit one of two. Eli McEldowney grabbed the rebound and the Tigers drove up the court, but McEldowney's pass to Stonebraker in the paint caromed straight up and Nathan Rindler grabbed it for the Cardinals.

Eli McEldowney fouled Bergman with 6.3 seconds left, and Bergman hit the first to give the Cardinals a three-point lead but missed the second. Stonebraker got the rebound, the Tigers called timeout, and Litten took the inbounds pass looking for a three.

There was nothing there, and he passed over to Stonebraker, who rose up for a three from the left elbow with Rindler's hand in his face. The shot was low and fell harmlessly as the buzzer sounded and New Bremen students rushed the court.

"Everything was a blur at the end there," Stephens said. "We were just trying to make sure 23 (Litten) didn't get a clean look at the rim. That's what we were trying to take away in the timeout, (what) we talked about, and we did that."

The two teams combined for 46 fouls, with New Bremen going 15-of-29 from the charity stripe and Versailles shooting 20-of-28. Versailles' Ben Ruhenkamp fouled out late in the fourth, with Homan joining him on the bench in the first overtime.

Noah McEldowney sat much of the second half with four fouls, while Stonebraker, Bergman and Alig picked up their fourth fouls in the extra periods.

"It changed a little bit how we had to play, because if we foul them, we'll be out of the game with foul trouble," Stephens said. "You just got to guard your man, worry about yourself, and control what you can control."  

Homan totaled a game-high 19 points, while Noah McEldowney scored 18 for the Tigers. Busse finished with 14.

New Bremen returns to action tonight when Ridgemont comes to town, then travels to Marion Local next Friday.