Alex Slitz/Daily NewsBowling Green's D.J. Ray (center) sinks a basket in overtime against The Mathematics, Civics and Sciences Charter School of Philadelphia's defenders during the final game of the Best of the Best Hoops Classic at Franklin-Simpson High School. Bowling Green won 74-73.

FRANKLIN — Bowling Green took everything Philadelphia’s Math, Civics and Sciences Charter School could throw Tuesday, but the Purples somehow survived with a 74-73 overtime win in the championship game of the Best of the Best Hoops Classic at Franklin-Simpson High School.

The Purples (12-1) led nearly throughout and owned leads of seven and eight points in the fourth quarter. But the Mighty Elephants (6-2) rallied time and time again, finally drawing into a 63-63 tie on a long Thomas Moore 3-pointer with 14 seconds left in regulation.

In overtime, BG led by three on four different occasions and was fortunate to watch MCSCS’ Tyreek Riddick race the length of the floor after a missed free throw with five seconds left for a layup at the buzzer. But Riddick’s team needed a 3-pointer to tie.

“I think survival’s good, but maybe another way to put it is dealing with some adversity,” Bowling Green coach DG Sherrill said of the win. “If we hit some free throws late, we win this thing in regulation. But that team played downhill on us all night. They were very aggressive, extremely athletic – they were jumping twice when we were jumping once. That was a good win over a good basketball team.”

Bowling Green went 18 for 37 from the free-throw line, leaving MCSCS plenty of chances to hang around. But the young team from Philadelphia couldn’t convert opportunities to take the lead or tie in overtime.

“It came down to situational basketball,” MCSCS coach Danny Jackson said. “I fault myself because we really haven’t got that far in practice yet – just knowing what to do in the right situation. We took a bad 3 at the end of regulation when we just needed a quick two. And then in overtime we took a bad two when we needed a quick 3. But the guys played hard, they fought until the end.”

The four-minute overtime period began with the Elephants quickly threatening to end BG’s seven-game winning streak when Kwahmere Gredic stole the ball and converted an easy layup for a 65-63 lead.

Bowling Green’s Chane Behanan, who led all scorers with 22 points, then fouled out with three minutes to go, leaving the Purples in need of a go-to guy.

Michael Geegan answered the call, drilling a 3 from the right corner to make it 66-65. Gredic hit two free throws on the other end to make it 67-66, but Geegan came back and hit two from the charity stripe to put BG back on top 68-67.

Tyson Halcomb contributed a putback for a 70-67 lead before Nigel Caldwell’s drive to the hole made it 70-69.

D.J. Ray hit a runner for a 72-69 lead before Alan Womack laid it in on the other end for a 72-71 score with 38 seconds to go.

The Elephants then forced a turnover, but couldn’t convert the miscue into points. Tommie Boyce hit a free throw, Riddick missed a runner from the right side to tie and Ray made the first of two to make it 74-71 before the game’s final play.

“With (Behanan) fouling out there I thought that they kinda thought that the game was over,” Sherrill said. “I thought our guys really showed a lot of moxie by continuing to make plays. We rebounded better in the last three minutes than we did the entire game. We need to learn as a team that (Behanan’s) a great player – the best around – but we got other good players. And those guys need to play good when they’re out there.”

The win made it eight straight for the Purples. Bowling Green captured the Citizens First Holiday Classic title at home Dec. 22 and won the Best of the Best by winning four games in two days – two of them by a total of two points.

Bowling Green opened the contest with a 13-4 lead thanks to an 8-0 early run. The lead increased to 17-6 on back-to-back steals and subsequent layups from Dareon Simmons and Darius Clement.

Math, Civics and Sciences stormed within two thanks to a Caldwell drive and Riddick’s steal of the ensuing inbounds to end the quarter at 17-15.

In the second, a Chris Stokes putback gave MCSCS its first lead at 23-21, but that’s when Behanan came to life.

Bowling Green retook the lead when Boyce drove the left side of the lane and threw an alley-oop to Behanan to make it 23-21. Behanan then flushed a two-handed stuff off a fast break to make it 25-21.

The junior had 10 points in the quarter, while his teammates had seven and the Elephants scored 19 to keep it a tie game at 34-34 at the break.

“He’s an outstanding player,” Jackson said of Behanan. “His presence in the post is phenomenal. He has a bright future ahead of him. He dominated this basketball game.”

Bowling Green took a 41-36 lead in the third when Behanan dunked home a Boyce miss. Math, Civics and Sciences big man Andre Thomas then got his third foul with 4:39 to go and BG opened up a 44-37 lead with a 3 from Boyce from the top of the key.

Leading 46-40 at the end of the period, Muhamed Amin was called for a technical for arguing a call after fouling Ray on a layup. The Purples only hit two of four from the line during the ensuing freebies and were unable to score on the following possession. BG led 49-42 after three.

In the fourth, MCSCS cut it to three on a Moore pull-up jumper from the left elbow to make it 49-46. The Purples sprinted back away, however, scrapping points from the free-throw line to lead by as many as eight on two separate occasions.

The Elephants came back and tied the game at 58 on an Amin three-point play with 2:14 to go. Caldwell gave MCSCS its final lead at 60-59 with two free throws before a Behanan putback gave BG the lead once again at 61-60.

Ray missed two free throws after that, but Boyce chased down the rebound and BG called timeout. On the following inbounds, no one picked up Halcomb, allowing the junior to lay it in for a 63-60 lead with 26 seconds to go.

The Elephants moved up the floor quickly and found Moore, who buried the game-tying triple from near the volleyball service line, well behind the three-point arc.

Ray finished with 15 for BG while Boyce had 11. Thomas finished with 16 and 12 rebounds for MCSCS, Gredic and Riddick had 13 and Caldwell and Moore added 11 each.

Math, Civics and Sciences shot 7 of 16 from the line.

Bowling Green returns to action at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, hosting University Heights.

MCSCS 15 19 8 21 10 – 73

BGHS 17 17 15 14 11 – 74

MCSCS – Thomas 16, Gredic 13, Riddick 13, Caldwell 11, Moore 11, Amin 5, Stokes 2, Womack 2.

BGHS – Behanan 22, Ray 15, Boyce 11, Geegan 7, Halcomb 7, Clement 4, Gorman 4, Simmons 4.