Merced boys attack basket to win double-OT thriller

The Merced boys basketball team finally got back to what it does best.

After timidly executing their halfcourt sets for most of the fourth quarter and the first overtime on Friday night, the Bears went into attack mode to open the second overtime.

Ulonzo Gilliam converted two dribble drives sandwiched around a Travis Pazin layup as Merced scored the first nine points of the second overtime. The Bears managed to do enough at the free-throw line from there to hold on for a 67-62 victory over Pitman.

The victory puts the Bears (13-7, 2-1 Central California Conference) into a second-place tie with Golden Valley three games into league play.

“Coach (Hector) Nava had really been stressing it all week,” said Pazin, who scored five of his nine points in the second overtime. “For us to be successful, we have to be aggressive on both sides of the court and attack the basket when we get a chance.

“We got away from it a little bit, but used it to our advantage to start the second overtime.”

It was a back-and-forth affair worthy of two overtimes as neither squad could keep momentum for long.

Merced trailed by one at halftime, but seemed to take control of the game in the third quarter.

As usual, it was the Bears’ defense that got them going. Pitman (8-9, 1-2 CCC) turned the ball over 10 times in the third quarter, allowing Merced to get out on the break, and the Bears opened the second half with a 12-2 run. AJ Stewart had particularly quick hands Friday night, coming up with eight steals to go along with his game-high 29 points.

Merced held a seven-point lead with 2:14 to play in the fourth quarter.

“Believe it or not, we’re still a young team,” Nava said. “We’ve got a couple sophomores out there, a number of juniors and a senior without a lot of experience. So despite having a comfortable lead in the fourth quarter, we’re prone to concentration lapses.

“To allow a team to come back like that in the last couple minutes is all concentration.”

Branson Garcia’s runner tied the score at 49-49 with 18 seconds left to force overtime. Both teams exchanged a pair of baskets to go to a second overtime. Garcia had a team-high 20 points.

This story was originally published January 16, 2015 at 11:44 PM with the headline "Merced boys attack basket to win double-OT thriller."