As the time winded down on the clock in double overtime, the back and forth became faster with each passing second. With each basket made, the crowd in the stands and the teammates on the bench got louder. After the fourth quarter and first overtime ended in a tie, Nazareth was able to close out three points ahead of the Mustangs, 44-47.

Senior and starter, Nathan Waterman, hit two free throws in the final moments of double overtime, giving the Mustangs a lead. Nazareth quickly countered with a layup and a three-pointer to hand DGS its fourth loss of the season.

DGS held the lead up until the final minute of regulation. With 40.7 seconds left in the regular game, Nazareth tied the game at 37. Head basketball coach Zachary Miller explained the loss.

“We didn’t get shots up,” Miller said. “We held [Nazareth] under 50 points for a whole game and two overtimes. We’ve got to find ways to get some of our guys to go in the right spots and just get shots up on the offensive end.”

After a slow start during the first quarter, the team was down by six, 7-13. Senior and starter, Charles Shaw, scored all seven points with one field miss.

During the second quarter, Shaw made eight free throws and scored four other points. He led the team with 23 points overall.

“I had the ball a majority [of the time] and I drove to get to the bucket,” Shaw said.

The game picked up in the second quarter when the Mustangs scored 19 points. By halftime, the Mustangs had a ten point lead due to senior Patrick Laurich and Waterman both hitting three-pointers, and Shaw making two point shots twice in the quarter.

Having had control of the game’s pace during the second quarter, Laurich felt the lead came from effective passing and a stable defense during the stretch to halftime.

“We shared the ball well; we got it to our guys who can really go defensively. We got deflections [and] tips, and that’s what our goal was,” Laurich said.

Nazareth battled back in the second half of the game. They scored 10 points in the third quarter over the Mustangs’ five, followed by 11 in the fourth to force the tie at 37 and overtime. The Mustangs lost by three points that were scored in the final seconds of the second overtime.

Following the loss, junior Tyler Jablonski expressed his thoughts on the game’s result.

“I think we could’ve beaten them, and that we are going to beat them if we ever do play them again. We played our hearts out; it’s an unfortunate loss, but it’s how it ended,” Jablonski said.

Waterman reflects on how the team can improve going forward.

“We’ve got to work on just getting a good warm-up in and coming out hot,” Waterman said.

The next home game is Dec. 4 against Addison Trail at 4:30 p.m.