Tigers nip Lancers in OT thriller but lose out in division title quest on tie-breaker

Photos By Cheryl Wertman – Lyndonville’s Eddie Schildt scores a key basket in overtime as Tucker Bezon (3) and Henry Pflaumer (10) defend for Elba. The action took place during the Tigers win over the visiting Lancers this evening.

In a down to the wire overtime thriller, Lyndonville outlasted visiting Elba 56-50 this evening but due to the Genesee Region League’s tie-breaker system the Tigers finished second to the Lancers in the race for the Division 2 title.

In fact, it took the league’s third tie-breaker criteria to determine the division champion.

The first tie-breaker is overall league record and Lyndonville and Elba both finished at 12-2. The second tie breaker is head-to-head competition and the teams split their two meetings with Elba taking the first 58-56. The third, and deciding tie-breaker, is division record and Elba finished at 7-1 and Lyndonville at 6-2 in Division 2 as an early season 92-79 loss at Notre Dame ended up proving costly to the Tigers.

“It’s tough but it doesn’t take anything away from the game. Our kids played a solid game and I’m really proud of them,” said Lyndonville Coach Lee Dillenbeck in noting that he didn’t find out about the third tie-breaking criteria until after the game..

Lyndonville’s Nick Hinkson puts up a shot as John Hocmuth tries to block for Elba. Shane O’Halloran (1) also defends for the Lancers.

Elba sent the wild contest into overtime as Shane O’Halloran made two free throws with three seconds remaining to knot the contest at 50-50.

Elba almost pulled out the win in regulation as the Lancers got the ball right back off a turnover but a shot at the buzzer just missed.

Surviving that scare, Lyndonville then outscored Elba 6-0 in the four minute overtime period to claim the win on a jumper by Eric Neace followed by a rebound bucket and two free throws by Eddie Schildt.

Schildt finished with 14, Nick Hinkson 13, Neace 10, Zach Johnson 9, Corey Hydock 7 and Jacob Hoffee 3 for the Tigers.

Henry Pflaumer scored 12, O’Halloran and John Hocmuth 10, Tucker Bezon 8, Dakota Dillon 6 and Richard Flores and Andrew Gottler 2 for the Lancers.

Corey Hydock puts up s shot for the Tigers.

Lyndonville jumped out to a 10-7 first quarter lead as Hinkson had a three and a rebound basket and Neace a pair of layups.

The Tigers then outscored the Lancers 16-8 in the second period to extend the advantage to 11, 26-15 at the half.

Three buckets by Schildt on two layups and a rebound ignited that Tigers scoring surge which also included a pair of threes by Johnson and a jumper and two free throws by Neace.

However, Elba came battling back by opening the third quarter with a 10-0 run to quickly slice the deficit to just one at 26-25. Bezon spearheaded that rally with 6 points.

Hoffee, Hinkson and Johnson then traded threes with Pflaumer, Dillon and O’Halloran during a wild stretch which saw the Lancers pull even twice, first at 34-34 and then at 37-37.

Lyndonville though emerged with a narrow 39-37 lead at the three-quarter mark after a jumper at the buzzer by Schildt.

Eric Neace puts up a shot for the Tigers as John Hocmuth tries for the block for the Lancers.

The Tigers extended the lead a bit to four, 46-42, three minutes into the final period after a three by Hinkson.

However, Elba again came rallying back this time into a 48-46 lead with 2:45 remaining after back-to-back threes by O’Halloran and Pflaumer.

Lyndonville though answered back with a big three by Hydock to put the Tigers back up 49-48 with 23 seconds remaining.

A free throw by Hinkson gave the Tigers a 50-48 lead with 12 seconds to go but O’Halloran answered with two pressure free throws to pull the Lancers back even at 50-50 with three seconds to go, foul shots which ended up sending the contest into overtime.

Lyndonville finishes the regular seaon with a 16-4 overall record while Elba winds up at 18-2.

Lyndonville’s Zach Johnson screams excitement at the end of the game.