The Manhattan boys survived a battle with Lame Deer in the Southern B boys consolation game on Saturday afternoon, defeating the Morning Stars in overtime, 73-72.
Manhattan held a 57-52 lead late in the fourth quarter before Lame Deer's Journey Emerson went on an 8-1 run to force overtime. The Tigers jumped ahead in overtime, but missed free throws from Wyatt Jones allowed Lame Deer to crawl back within 2 with under 20 seconds to play.
"They go on runs, and the key thing is being able to stay in the moment," Manhattan head coach Wes Kragt said. "Keep working the ball, not let the crowd get ahold of you, and we did a good job of staying in it and grinding it out."
After pair of Jaxxon McCormick free throws, Lame Deer found itself trailing 72-70 and sent Jadon Pierce to line for a pair of free throws with 8.8 seconds left. Pierce split the two attempts, allowing Lame Deer one final chance at the horn.
Emerson had a 3-point attempt blocked, and Jerrell Hiwalker laid it in, which allowed Manhattan to let the clock expire without having to inbound the ball.
Emerson, Montana's record-breaking scorer, had 21 points but shot just 6 of 17 from the floor.
"We rotated guys on (Emerson) (Saturday). We just forced him into the most difficult shots we could. He's one of the better offensive players we've seen all year and I thought we did a good job of corralling him and making the other guys beat us," Kragt said.
Manhattan will be the South's No. 3 seed at the State B tournament in Bozeman next week and will play Western B champion Bigfork in the opening round on March 10 at 1:30 p.m.
