Aurora Christian escapes ACC in OT

Jabari Sisco could not be down on himself for too long.

"I was at the other end, thinking about it," Sisco said.

But the Aurora Christian sophomore more than compensated for his empty trip at the free-throw line in overtime against Aurora Central Catholic when it truly mattered.

Sisco collected another miss by Aurora Christian on the front end of the bonus and converted the putback for arguably the biggest field goal of the Eagles' Metro Suburban Conference Blue boys basketball game against the Chargers.

The Sisco score proved to be the final conventional points with 40 seconds remaining in the extra period in the Eagles' 59-56 victory at Aurora Central Catholic Friday night.

"It felt pretty good," Sisco said of his inside score that broke the final tie of the game for a 58-56 Aurora Christian lead. "I had to redeem myself for the two misses (at the free-throw line). We came out a little flat to start the game, but came back to get the win."

ACC senior guard Colin Dean split two free throws with 2.1 seconds remaining in regulation to send the game to overtime, tied at 52-52.

Taaj Davis was disqualified on the Dean drive to the basket as the star Aurora Christian guard, who led both teams with 26 points, played virtually the entire fourth quarter for the second straight game with four fouls.

"It's never comforting when (Davis) goes to the bench," Aurora Christian coach Dan Beebe said. "He has to learn to stay out of foul trouble."

But Aurora Christian (4-1, 1-0) never trailed the entire overtime session after sophomore Daniel Walker drained a 3-pointer seconds after the second jump-ball of the game.

But in a drama-filled game the entire second half - Aurora Christian never led in regulation until Davis' back-to-back slashes to the rim midway through the third quarter - Sisco, the Eagles' eighth man, had the critical putback.

Dean was the story for the entire first half as he drained four of his five 3-pointers 10-plus minutes into the game.

Dean, who finished with a team-high 22 points for ACC (4-4, 0-1), was subsequently limited offensively when Beebe switched Davis on him early in the second quarter.

"I was just feeling it with my stroke," Dean said. "It was my role, so I wanted to get it going."

"He carried us for an extended period of time," ACC coach Nate Drye said of Dean.

In the last two minutes of regulation as well as critical possessions in overtime, both teams squandered opportunities with turnovers.

Aurora Christian guard Danny New scored all 10 of his points after halftime; the Chargers' Julien Berry complemented Dean with 11 points off the bench.