When I approached Lancers head coach Dan Gill following the game, he greeted me with "you can add that one to your top ten".  If I was starting a new list for this season, the game between St. Mary's and Newfane would be right at the top.

In a battle between two of the best small schools in WNY that needed an extra session to be decided, it was the host Lancers who eventually came away with a 75-66 win.  A packed Dick Woj Field House watched as the two teams battled back and forth and provided several highlights along the way.

The Panthers jumped out to an early 8-1 lead and held St. Mary's without a field goal until Peter Notaro connected with 3:25 left in the first quarter.  Trailing by 10 with 33 seconds left in the quarter, Newfane watched as a sloppy pass sailed over the half court line and assumed an over and back violation would follow.  Instead, it was Jake Denz who ran down the ball and dropped a 3-pointer to cut the Panther lead to seven after one.

The Lancers warmed up in the second quarter and tied the game at 22 on Denz's second '3' of the half.  The Panthers came right back with one of their own from Brayden Sears, and the teams continued to trade scores, heading into intermission locked at 27 apiece.

The second half was when the action really became entertaining.  Newfane's Dan Hambruch opened the scoring by canning a 3-pointer which spurred a 7-2 Panther run.  Shortly after, St. Mary's rattled off seven unanswered and took its first lead of the game with 1:50 remaining in the third.  Hambruch responded by drilling a pair of '3's, before Nate Meyers came right back with a sweet dish to Notaro.  The two teams were once again tied  at the end of the third quarter, this time it was 42-42.

During the final eight minutes of regulation, St. Mary's and Newfane continued trading blows. Hambruch converted a traditional three-point and connected on another long range bomb, while teammate Rohn Pierce converted a four-point play.   The Lancers hit on four '3's, two from Denz, one from Meyers, and one from Erik Simmons.  At the end of the furious eight minutes, the game was tied, 59-59, and Newfane had the ball under its basket for an imbound with eight seconds left.  As the pass entered, the ball was immediately tied up and St. Mary's got possesion with four ticks on the clock.  A three-point attempt by Denz just missed at the buzzer, and the two headed for OT.

The Lancers would go on to own the extra session, scoring more in the final four minutes than they scored in the first or third quarters.  Notaro and Devin Redden each had key blocks and Simmons scored eight points in the OT.

For St. Mary's, Notaro led a very balanced attack, scoring 15 points and pulling down 12 boards.  Denz, Simmons, and Redden each scored 13 points.

Hambruch had a game-high 25 points for the Panthers, including five for five from downtown.  Pierce added 18 points, while Steve "Five Fouls" Kneeland (who didn't foul out) scored 12.  Sean Seefeldt and Drew McCullough each turned in a tremendous defensive effort in the loss.

The game featured 16 lead changes and five ties.  Three of the ties were at the end of the half, third quarter, and regulation, while 14 of the lead changes occured during the games final 14 minutes.

 -centercourt