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Bartlett takes pride in OT triumph at Glenbard East

Jim Wolfsmith was extremely proud of his Bartlett boys basketball team after winning four of five games at the Jacobs Holiday Classic.

With Friday night's effort, that level of pride continued to grow.

Still playing without leading scorer Ben Tompson, the Hawks saw an early lead slip away before pulling out a 65-64 overtime win in an Upstate Eight Valley matchup in Lombard.

Tomas Vikonis made 2 free throws with 12.5 seconds left in the extra session to give the visitors the victory. The senior guard finished with a game-high 21 points.

"I was confident in my shot," said Vikonis about the game winning makes from the charity stripe. "I knew I could hit them. The (loud) crowd gets me excited, it doesn't get me down at all.

"We kind of came in with a chip on our shoulders. Last year we were on top of the conference and lost to these guys here. This was our chance to get back at them."

For the host Rams, the close defeat has become all too familiar. After starting out the season with a record of 5-2, Glenbard East (6-9, 1-2) has now lost 7 of 8 games, many in strikingly similar fashion. This time around, the squad battled back from an 18-4 first quarter deficit, slicing that margin to 10 by halftime before pulling within 42-38 heading into the final eight minutes.

Kenny Adams, who topped the Rams with 20 points, had a chance to win it in overtime but his jumper bounced off the rim as time expired. Adams had tied the game at the end of regulation with two made free throws.

"I thought we put ourselves in a hole in the first quarter," Glenbard East coach Scott Miller said. "But we did a nice job fighting back, and we did it with our defense. That is one of the things we have been talking about and our defense is getting better. We just have to keep playing."

Austin Gates chipped in with 18 points for Bartlett (8-7, 2-1), and Ben Fisher also checked into double figures with 12. Byron Price added 9.

"Any time you can come out with a win in a gym like this with an atmosphere like that is a good thing," Wolfsmith said. "You know they are going to go on runs and hit some 3s and get some turnovers. But in the end, our guys who are supposed to do things, did those things.

"The kids have been playing well and they have been sharing the ball as a team. They are still trying to find their roles a little bit with Ben's injury but every game we are gaining more experience for our guys, especially our bench players."

Alijah Nelson scored 16 points for the Rams and Korvante Davis contributed 11, including a jumper which put his team ahead by 1 with 22 seconds remaining in overtime.

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