Southwest DeKalb got some payback for a 53-50 home loss to the Columbia Eagles by pulling out a 56-55 overtime win at Columbia on Tuesday night to take over second place in the Region 5-5A boys’ basketball standings.

This night it would be the Panthers (11-8, 6-2) who would pull out the late victory rallying from a 55-52 deficit as Ohio State signee Eugene Brown III sank two free throws with 40 seconds to play to give Southwest DeKalb the lead 56-55.

Columbia missed a pair of free throws with 27.7 seconds to play, but on the Panthers’ ensuing possession a scramble for a rebound ended up with the Panthers losing the ball with 9.6 seconds to play.

The Eagles (11-7, 5-3) got off a shot near the basket which was partially blocked and went off the side of the backboard into the hands of Brown as the horn sounded.

Columbia had rallied in the final three minutes to pull out the win on the road in December and again the Eagles found themselves trailing 43-36 as Jarrett Walton got a nice pass under the basket from Mohamed Diallo for an easy bucket with 3:07 to play. The Panthers had used an 8-0 run to start the third quarter to regain the lead they had given up in the third quarter.

D’Kwan Harris tipped in a teammate’s miss with 2:09 to play and three consecutive turnovers by the Panthers had the looks of the December game as Columbia puled within 43-41 on Kawaski Ricks layup on a pass from Devin Longstreet at the 1:12 mark of the fourth quarter.

Brown would hit seven of eight free throws, he was 13 of 15 on the night, in final 1:12, but Columbia’s Donquavius Harrison would get a steal for an easy basket and then knock a three-pointer to keep the Eagles alive.

Ricks would hit two free throws to pull Columbia within 50-48 with 15.5 seconds to play. The Panthers got the inbounds pass into Brown, but a pair of Columbia defenders tied him for the jump ball to get the ball with 13.5 seconds to play.

A drive with eight seconds to play led to Ricks scoring the tying basket and as Southwest DeKalb tried to get the ball up the court a loose ball scramble led to the clock running out to send the game into overtime.

Brown finished the night with a 27-point, 11-rebound double-double to lead the Panthers and Jarrett Walton added 10 points. Ricks had 17 points to lead Columbia and D’Kwan Harris added 10 points and 12 rebounds for a double-double of his own.

(G) SW DeKalb 63, Columbia 55
The No. 9 ranked Southwest DeKalb Lady Panthers used a 15-0 run to start the second half to pull away from the Columbia Lady Eagles for a 63-55 Region 5-5A girls’ victory at Columbia to open the night.

Columbia had closed a late first half deficit to four at the half on a pair of India Terrell free throws with 4.4 seconds remaining.

Southwest DeKalb (14-6, 8-0) came out firing on all cylinders in the second half as Adrieanna Brownlee scored in the first 10 seconds to start the 15-0 run fueled by four different Lady Panthers.

Brownlee closed out the run with a basket on a feed from Jayla Kimbrough, who had 5 points in the run, to make it 46-27 with 3:44 to play in the quarter. Terrell hit two of four free throws and Elise Harden hit one of two as the Lady Eagles broke the big run.

Harden’s basket with 13 seconds left in the period cut the Southwest lead to 52-35 heading into the fourth quarter.

Destiny Remy’s two free throws and layup pushed the lead back out to 21 (58-37 with 5:55 to play in the game.

Columbia (8-7, 5-3) put together a 13-4 run started by a three-point play by India Terrell and ending on a driving layup by Daija Carr with 58 seconds to play to cut the lead to single digits at 62-53.

Southwest DeKalb missed three of four from the line in the final 32 seconds, but Columbia managed a layup by Mic’Kayla Spivey for the final of 63-55.

Southwest DeKalb has won three in a row and has a three-game lead in the win column over Arabia Mountain and Columbia in region play.

Jayla Kimbrough led a group of four Lady Panthers in double figures with 16 points. Adrienna Brownlee had 13 points while Destiny Remy and Aniyah Lee both had 10 points.

India Terrell led all scorers with 23 points along with eight rebounds and was joined in double figures by Elise Harden (15 points, 12 rebounds) and Daija Carr 15 points (4 three-pointers).