DUBLIN — West Bladen used a ferocious fourth-quarter rally to take Friday’s Three Rivers Conference game with visiting St. Pauls to overtime, then outscored the Bulldogs 11-8 in the extra time to earn an 80-77 win.
West Bladen improved to 5-17 overall, 2-13 in conference.
St. Pauls opened the game with a 13-4 run, but Jimmy Williams drained a three-pointer during a 9-2 Knights burst that cut the deficit to 15-13 going into the second quarter.
Williams canned another three-pointer for West Bladen that kept the Knights close at 28-24, but St. Pauls finished the half on a 7-4 run to take a 35-28 advantage into the intermission.
The Knights got a three-pointer from both Keshawn Lewis and Williams, along with two bombs from Shyron Adams in the third quarter to match the Bulldogs scoring trough the third quarter. But the visitors still maintained a 54-48 lead going into the fourth frame.
St. Pauls stretch its lead to 60-48 early in the final period, but West Bladen used the final 6:30 to go on a 19-9 run fueled by three-pointers from Williams and Adams and knot the game at 69-69 as time ran out.
In overtime, West Bladen went on a 7-2 run and then used crucial free throws from Tyre Boykin and Williams to seal the win.
Williams led the Knights with a season-high 24 points, while Boykin finished with 13 points; Adams scored 13 points; and Jonathan Robinson had eight points with six rebounds and three steals.
West Bladen will travel to Tabor City on Tuesday for a conference game with South Columbus at 8 p.m.