There was no slowing the Mid City Lions once their rampage began.
They hauled in a 13-point fourth quarter deficit to force overtime and eventually snatch a 107-94 win over the Andy Bay Falcons on Saturday.
It gave the Lions a crucial fourth win in the race for men’s club basketball playoff spots, creating a two-game buffer ahead of fifth-placed Varsity.
It was also the second close win for the Lions over the Falcons, and realistically, a game the Falcons should have closed out.
They led by six with a minute to play when Lions guard Lachie Cameron (32 points) picked off a pass.
Two Lions players tore after him, and Falcons guard Dan Cook hustled back to foul and prevent the layup.
But he was the only Falcon to make it back over halfway, and it was a telling moment.
The Lions still believed, and perhaps the Falcons were guilty of checking out early.
Cameron hit one free throw, before draining a three-pointer after the Lions picked up a turnover from their press.
Another turnover followed, and while Cook drew a charge to get the stop, another turnover resulted in Harry Bezett finishing through contact to score his biggest basket of a 41-point display, evening the scores at 90-90.
That sent the game to overtime, where the Lions ran rampant.
Bezett opened with a triple, before baskets to Noah Smith (15 points) and Cameron gave the Lions a 97-90 lead.
It was a gap the Falcons could not recover from, as the Lions ran away.
Yet for so long the Falcons looked good for their second win of the season.
After going down 12-2 early, they fought back to trail 26-23 at the end of the first quarter.
A 15-0 run early in the second quarter ignited the Falcons,
Jai Holden (39 points) hit three of his seven triples in that stretch, as they soared to a 38-29 lead.
The Lions called timeout and emerged a more polished unit, but the Falcons kept ahead, Holden hitting a further two three-pointers.
They led 48-42 at halftime, and while Bezett and Cameron pulled the Lions to within three, a 13-2 run from the Falcons on either side of three-quarter time took them to 77-64.
Cameron rallied to haul in the deficit, but the Falcons clung on and held a six-point lead with a minute to play, when the Lions began their rampage.
Matt Brien had 27 points as the City Rise Bombers held off the St Kilda Saints 81-79 in another overtime game.
The Mid City Magic remained unbeaten with a 104-67 win over Varsity, Toby Lewis leading the way with 33 points.
