Curtis Aiken Drops 38 Points, Tigers Beat Blue Devils In Double OT
In a seesaw game that featured 10 ties and 14 lead changes, the North Allegheny boys’ basketball team outlasted the Mt. Lebanon Blue Devils on the road for a 77-69 victory in double overtime. Junior Curtis Aiken paced the Tigers attack with a game-high 38 points and eight rebounds. Senior post player Isaac Barnes chipped in with a double-double, scoring 18 points and pulling down 10 boards. Senior Griffin Sestili added eight points.
The non-section Class 6A contest was tightly played throughout and NA led by four points, 55-51, with just over a minute remaining in the fourth quarter. Mt. Lebanon’s Michael Palmer trimmed the score to 55-53 with a jumper with 1:03 to play and a Mark Lamendola layup tied the game at 55-55 with seven seconds remaining to force overtime. Lamendola finished with 13 points for the Blue Devils. Mt. Lebanon was led by Sean Loughran who tallied 23 points.
In the extra session, North Allegheny took a 62-60 lead on an Aiken layup with 2:03 to play in overtime. Mt. Lebanon’s Caden Hinckley tied the game at 62-62 with 1:50 remaining, and after a North Allegheny turnover, the Blue Devils had a chance to win the game in the waning seconds of overtime but Lamendola missed two shots before the buzzer.
The Tigers didn’t leave as much drama in the second overtime and took control of the game thanks in part to Aiken’s clutch shooting from the free-throw line. Aiken totaled 13 points in the second OT with 8 of 10 shooting from the charity stripe. Aiken finished with 15 of 18 shooting at the line on the night as the Tigers closed out a 77-69 win. North Allegheny’s advantage on the glass played a role in the win as well as the Tigers outrebounded the Blue Devils, 35-21.
North Allegheny captures its first victory to improve to 1-2 on the young season. Mt. Lebanon drops its first game of the year and dips to 2-1 on the campaign. The Tigers will host Kennedy Catholic in a tough non-section tilt on Saturday night at the Hoops For a Cure Classic at North Allegheny.
Boys Basketball vs. Mt. Lebanon, 12-12-16
| GAME SUMMARY | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SCORE BY QUARTERS | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | 2OT | FINAL |
| North Allegheny | 13 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 7 | 15 | 77 |
| Mt. Lebanon | 11 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 7 | 7 | 69 |
