Dayton, OH — The City League rivalry between Stivers and Thurgood Marshall was renewed on Friday night. The Tigers and Cougars faced each other last night for the first time since the highly competitive battles of last season. Thurgood Marshall and Stivers shared the City League title last season so both of these games should be exciting games to watch. The game was very back and forth in the first half and both teams traded buckets throughout the first half. Thurgood did hold the advantage heading into halftime though 29-28. Stivers guard Trevon Ellis missed a majority of the first half due to foul trouble. There were some words and pushes being thrown around while both teams exited the court at the end of the first half. No ejections or technical fouls were assessed though as the referees and security did a great job keeping it under control. In the second half, Thurgood came out hot. They led 41-28 as they had 12 unanswered points to begin the quarter. When it seemed like Stivers had nothing left in the tank and was ready to roll over, Dajuan Allen caught fire. He made every shot he took and he brought Stivers right back into the game. Thurgood still held a 54-46 lead at the end of the third after Anthony McComb converted on an and-one. The fourth quarter was an absolute battle. Trevon Ellis, Allen Lattimore, and Dajuan Allen all came out firing on all cylinders for the Tigers and they brought themselves back in the game. With 1:30 left and the game coming down to the wire, Stivers held a 71-69 lead. Guard Doug Spear drove down the lane and made an impressive up-and-under layup to extend the lead to 73-69. Thurgood’s Chanze Amerson answered on the other end with a tough layup to make it a one-possession game. Stivers’ Trevon Ellis missed a layup at the other end with 40 seconds remaining. Anthony McComb quickly pulled down the board and kicked it ahead to Mekhi Elmore who was wide open at the other end of the court. His open layup with 45 seconds remaining tied the game at 73 apiece. Ellis got the ball for Stivers and drove to the hoop before he was fouled. He made the front end of the two free throws but missed the second one. That gave Thurgood Marshall the ball down by one with 30 seconds left. Chanze Amerson’s contested three was too strong but he got his own rebound and then was fouled by Allen Lattimore. This controversial call with 7.9 seconds left gave Amerson a chance to win it at the line. Amerson made the first free-throw to tie the game at 74. The second free throw was just short, Prophet Johnson almost got the offensive rebound but Stivers guard Allen Lattimore ripped it away before losing his handle on the ball at midcourt. That resulted in a jump ball between Lattimore and Chanze Amerson. The possession arrow pointed towards Thurgood Marshall, so the Cougars would get a chance at a final shot. With 2.7 seconds left, Thurgood inbounded the ball to Chanze Amerson whose shot was blocked and regulation was over. After two Doug Spear free-throws, Thurgood’s Mekhi Elmore missed a layup and Stivers’ Allen Lattimore missed a three on the other end, but Stivers got the offensive rebound and then there was another controversial foul call on Thurgood as it appeared to be a clean steal but was ruled a foul. Stivers couldn’t convert at the line, and Thurgood Marshall’s Chanze Amerson was fouled while going up for a layup and he also couldn’t hit either of the two free-throws so it stood at a two-point Stivers lead with 2:45 to go. A Trevon Ellis free-throw and another Doug Spear layup gave Stivers a 5 point lead with under two minutes to go. Chanze Amerson drove down the court two plays in a row to cut it to just a one-point lead with less than a minute to go. Doug Spear was dribbling down the sideline when they called a blocking foul on Thurgood Marshall. He made one of the two free-throws. Thurgood than missed an open layup with 40 seconds remaining and Trevon Ellis’ full-court outlet pass to Doug Spear was then quickly thrown inside to Allen Lattimore who made the open layup to give Stivers the 5 point lead. Amerson quickly chucked up a three, it was no good and the Stivers Tigers have now taken complete control of the Dayton City League. They sit atop the City League standings after this amazing overtime battle with Thurgood Marshall. Both of these teams meet again of February 7th for what should be another game to possibly decide the City League champion.