The grasp for the Mid-State Conference slipped out of the Detroit Lakes boys' basketball team's hands Tuesday, after falling to visiting Pequot Lakes 61-59 inside Ralph Anderson Gym.
The Class 2A No. 7 ranked Patriots (12-3) pulled into a tie with the Class 3A No. 8 ranked Lakers (11-3) for the conference lead, after playing an effective 2-3 zone in the second half to stifle a cold-shooting DL team.
The game came down to a driving basket by senior guard Kurtis Moody, who pulled up in the lane and sank a bank-shot to break a 59-59 tie with just 2.5 seconds remaining in regulation.
"They shot better than us in the second half and killed us on the offensive boards," said DL head coach Robb Flint.
"We weren't able to push it up the floor like we were able to in the first half."
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Senior post Josh Stalberger was a one-man wrecking crew for the Lakers in the first half, as DL's leading scorer compiled 22 points, which included the team's first 15 of 17 points.
But the Patriots packed their defense around Stalberger in the second half and limited him to four points, while DL's run and gun game stalled after a dominant first half.
"They started getting offensive rebounds because we were missing our box outs and that slowed our running game down," Stalberger said.
"We've seen a lot of zone, and they definitely collapsed down in the middle tonight."
DL was able to control the first half behind Stalberger's efforts, along with junior point guard Connor Hedstrom's stellar passing -- which collected him 10 assists in the game.
One assist included a thunderous one-handed alley-hoop dunk by Stalberger on a nice loft pass from beyond the arc by Hedstrom.
"Connor and I work on that a bit in practice," Stalberger said of the highlight dunk.
"He does a great job passing it in to the posts."
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DL held a 17-10 lead at the 7:10 mark, but Pequot Lakes started a comeback and trimmed the lead down to 28-25 by halftime, thanks to a late three pointer by junior guard Nevin Greer.
"We knew they were going to change things up in the second half on Josh," Flint said.
"But we couldn't shoot from the perimeter, we were ice cold for much of the second half."
Pequot Lakes took its first second half lead on a three-pointer by Jordan Anderson for a 32-30 lead, with the game going back and forth from then on out.
Junior guard Rick Hutchinson kept DL on the trail by hitting two crucial three's, one tying the game at 37-37 at the 12:02 mark.
The Patriots were able to build a 50-45 lead on a trey by Logan Lange, but the Lakers kept picking away.
Junior guard Joe Mollberg made a strong rebound move for two points, to trim the deficit to 54-52 with just over two minutes left.
Then a turnover by the Pats on a full-court press led to a nice feed by senior guard Connor McLeod to junior post Brian Labat for a 58-57 lead.
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After Pequot Lakes' post Tomas Parker went 1-2 from the free throw line, Mollberg took a pass from Hedstrom to tie the game at 59-59 with under 20 seconds left in the game.
The Patriots were able to wind the clock down to 2.5 seconds, before Moody hit the eventual game-winning shot.
Moody finished with 25 points, while Parker had 13. DL's Labat netted 11 points, while Mollberg and Hutchinson each contributed eight points.
The Lakers will travel to Thief River Falls (10-4) Thursday for a 7:30 p.m. start.
Laker results
Pequot Lakes at Detroit Lakes, Tuesday, Jan. 25.
Patriots 25 36 - 61
Lakers 28 31 - 59
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Scoring (2-3-ftm-fta-pts) -- DL: Josh Stalberger 9-0-8-12-26; Brian Labat 4-0-3-5-11; Joe Mollberg 4-0-0-0-8; Rick Hutchinson 1-2-0-0-8; Connor McLeod 1-0-2-2-4; Connor Hedstrom 0-0-2-2-2. TEAM: 19-2-15-21-59.
PL: Jordan Anderson 2-1-2-3-9; Logan Lange 1-1-0-0-5; Brian Craig 1-0-0-0-2; Nevin Greer 1-1-0-2-5; Riley Johnson 1-0-0-0-2; Kurtis Moody 10-0-5-6-25; Tomas Parker 5-0-3-5-13. TEAM: 21-3-10-15-61.
Stats (rb-steals-assists) -- DL: Stalberger 2-2-1; Labat 4-2-0; Mollberg 5-0-0; Hutchinson 5-0-2; C. McLeod 1-3-1; Hedstrom 3-0-10. TEAM: 20-7-14.
