Russ Michna delivered when Conant needed it most on Friday.
The Cougars junior forward came up with a key steal in the final minute, then calmly sank two free throws with 2.3 seconds remaining to lift his team to a 50-49 Mid-Suburban South victory over Prospect.
Conant (13-6, 3-3) had let a 15-point third-quarter lead slip away and trailed by 49-46 before Pat McCormack and Michna combined to help the Cougars pull out the win.
“The tables got turned a little bit,” said Cougars coach Tom McCormack. “We had a nice lead and then we started looking at the clock. We had a couple of things that didn’t go our way . . . and that took us out of what we wanted to do.”
Pat McCormack scored on a layup to cut the Prospect lead to 49-48 with 1:15 to play. The Knights (8-8, 2-4) then played keepaway in hopes of going to the free throw line, but Michna stole the ball with 24 seconds left and then drew a foul as the final moments ticked down.
“When (the Knights) got the lead, they had to play against the clock,” said Tom McCormack. “Fortunately, we were able to hang in there, make some plays down the stretch and give ourselves a chance to win.”
Michna and Brian Costin paced the winners with 11 points apiece while Pat McCormack and Dave Stanczyk each tossed in 10.
Conant had the upper hand through most of Friday’s contest after spotting the Knights a 5-1 lead to open the game.
The Cougars then launched a 14-3 run that started with five unanswered points from Michna as Conant moved out to a 15-8 advantage.
Prospect battled back to cut the deficit to 18-15 by the end of the opening period. That came, in part, thanks to a late three-pointer from senior Matt Walpole, who had two long-distance shots in the quarter and ended the game with 15 points.
But Conant then turned a shaky lead into a significant edge in the second, despite playing without forward Kici Useini, who sat out part of the period after picking up his third foul.
The Cougars took command with a 14-5 effort that included five straight points from guard Stanczyk late in the period.
Conant extended the lead to 38-23 early in the third as Costin, working under the glass, scored baskets on three straight possessions.
But Prospect answered with some good inside work of its own. Junior Dave Olesky ignited a 7-2 run with a basket and Aaron Adams, who scored a game-high 16 points, followed with back-to-back scores that cut the Cougar lead to 40-30 with 3:20 left.
Adams struck again 50 seconds later after a Conant turnover when he picked up his third straight basket to cut the deficit to 40-32. Two free throws by Andrew Adams helped the Knights close to within six at 40-34.
The Cougars, who went nearly five minutes with just one field goal, finally revived with a three-point play from Useini with 44 seconds left that restored their nine-point advantage at 42-33.
But Walpole canned a three-pointer as the final seconds ticked down, cutting the Conant lead to 43-37 entering the final eight minutes.
The Cougar lead dwindled further, then disappeared in the opening minutes thanks to reserve Taki Mullins. The junior guard scored on a baseline drive at the 7:08 mark, then followed up 40 seconds later with a baseline three-pointer that sliced the Cougar lead to 43-42.
Prospect claimed its first lead since the 5:13 mark of the first on another trey from Mullins, this time a right side baseline jumper. And Walpole made it a 9-0 run when he drove baseline for a field goal with 4:01 to play, giving the Knights a 47-43 lead.
But a Stanczyk three-pointer and a layup by Pat McCormack helped the Cougars regain momentum and climb back to within one point at 49-48 with 1:15 left.
Prospect tried to play keep-away in the final minute in hopes of taking the game to the line, but the strategy failed when Michna stole the ball.
