NAPPANEE - For the first time since the 1987-88 season, the NorthWood Panthers did something that hasn't happened often.

NorthWood defeated Warsaw on Friday night 60-57 in overtime and, in the process, all but eliminated the Tigers from a Northern Lakes Conference championship.

Unless Warsaw gets a lot of help, the Tigers will not win at least a share of the conference title for the first time in four years after their second NLC loss this season.

How did NorthWood do it? They weathered the storm.

Warsaw is often the type of team that just waits until its opponent makes a few fatal flaws and then goes for the kill with a 10-or 12-point run. That stretch came in the first quarter for NorthWood.

The Panthers made just 2 of 13 shots in the opening period and looked tentative.

However, Warsaw struggled to find the scoring touch and came out with just an 8-6 lead. After that point, NorthWood was close to perfect for the rest of the game.

"We missed a lot of nice shots and some early free throws," NorthWood coach Dan Gunn said. "We just needed some balls to go in the basket and get something positive."

NorthWood knocked in 56 percent of its shots from that point on and had just nine turnovers as Warsaw fought from behind for the entire second half and into the overtime period.

The Panthers did not take their first lead of the game until a Nic Bradley three-pointer with 5:37 to play in the third quarter put NorthWood ahead 26-25.

A Luke Reed free throw tied the game before Charlie Roeder made two free throws and Bobby Brown connected on a three-pointer to put the Panthers ahead 31-26.

NorthWood took a 38-34 lead into the fourth quarter and still led 44-39 with 4:28 to play in regulation. That's when Gunn decided to put his team into a stalling situation.

The gameplan backfired as Chris Wiggins connected on a three-point play for the Tigers and Reed made 1 of 2 free throws to cut the lead to one point.

After Jake Yoder made a free throw for the Panthers, Wiggins nailed a pair of shots from the charity stripe to tie the game at 45-45 with 34 seconds left.

With 19 seconds left, Bradley made a pair of free throws, but Andy Plank, who was quiet most of the night, came up with a layup with five seconds to play to send the game to overtime.

In the overtime period, Wiggins scored two of his game-high 23 points on a layup to give the Tigers their last lead of the game.

NorthWood came back with eight straight points on a three-pointer from Bobby Brown and four points from Yoder.

A pair of three-pointers from Wiggins late made the score close, but it was not enough.

"It was a really tough, aggressive game," Gunn said. "That was no place for anyone who didn't want to play tonight. We knew that Warsaw is very physical inside."

Warsaw had 19 turnovers in the game, nine of which came in the fourth quarter and the overtime period.

"(Turnovers) have been a problem for us," Warsaw head coach Al Rhodes said. "You have to credit a very aggressive NorthWood defense. The pressure on the ball was excellent.

"They mixed up from man-to-man to a box-in-one on Plank," he said. "We just weren't sharp against that. That was a good move on Coach Gunn's part."

Besides Wiggins, who scored 15 points in the fourth quarter and the overtime period, Reed was the only other Warsaw player in double digits in scoring. He had 14 points and eight rebounds for the Tigers. Plank, averaging 15.6 points per game, was held to just seven points.

Gunn commented on how important it was to hold Plank down.

"We did a great job on Plank," Gunn said. "He's kind of the heart and soul of their team. They'll have a tough time beating teams if Plank doesn't hit double figures."

Of NorthWood's 60 points, 54 of them came from four players. Brown and Aaron Huber each scored 15 points, Bradley added 13 and Yoder finished with 11.

NorthWood (6-3, 2-1) will be at Glenn tonight. Warsaw (7-4, 2-2) will play at Concord on Friday. [[In-content Ad]]