NTL BOYS' BASKETBALL: NEB EDGES TOWANDA IN OT (January 29, 2026)
Northern Tier Sports ReportROME — It was pandemonium at Panther Lane on Wednesday as NEB pulled out a 65-56 overtime win over Towanda during NTL boys’ hoops.
It was a match-up of the two division leaders, and the game lived up to the hype, and then some.
“Tonight was a great night of basketball,” NEB coach Paul Burgert said. “Two teams doing absolute battle out there in front of an amazing crowd. I tried yelling at my players, fellow coaches, refs…I don't think anyone heard me. It was rocking! I won't be able to talk for a week. But what a game. Both teams left it all out there on the floor. It’s the type of game, win or lose, that can only help you going forward.”
It was back and forth as Towanda took a 10-8 lead after one, but the Panthers held a 23-17 lead going into the locker rooms.
The Knights cut it to 35-31 going into the fourth, then scored a game high 18 points in the final frame to send it into overtime.
In the extra period the Panthers racked up 14 points to pull away.
“I’m super proud of my boys,” Burgert said. “They gave everything they had tonight to get this win. It wasn't always pretty, but they continue to just dig and rally together.”
Cooper Brown had 22 points, and four boards to lead NEB, as Clay Wilks had a double-double of 12 points, and 13 rebounds.
Dayton Russell shot 4-for-6 from the field for 10 points, plus six boards, and three steals, as Eli Stanton had eight points, four rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
Daniel Barrett had four points, six boards, and three steals, Nate Gross netted four points, while Mac Burgert had three points, to go with four boards.
Darrius Farrell netted 17 to lead three Knights in double figures, with Markell Garner scoring 11, and Lucas Vincent adding 10.
Boom Thompson scored six, Graham Welles, and Landon Clark had five points each, with Josh Maye adding two.
Offense was hard to come by in the first quarter with five different Knights scoring to give them the 2-point lead at the first horn. Vincent, and Welles both had three to lead Towanda, as Gross scored four for NEB.
Russell, and Burgert both had 3-balls in the second quarter to spur NEB to the 6-point lead at the half, while Vincent had five of his team’s seven points in the second frame.
After being held scoreless in the first half Garner and Farrell both woke up in the third, combining for eight of their team’s 14 points as they cut the deficit to four points.
Brown led NEB in the third with five points.
It turned into a shoot out in the fourth with Brown scoring 10 of NEB’s 14 points, while Farrell netted nine of Towanda’s 18 to send the game into overtime.
In the extra period NEB got buckets from Brown, Russell, and Wilks, while shooting 8-for-15 from the line, good enough to pull out the win.
Farrell had four points in the extra period to lead Towanda.
“Our defense in the first half was outstanding,” Burgert said. “We executed our game plan very well. In the second half they made some adjustments in their attack, and foul trouble hurt our rotations a bit. By the stretch run and overtime it just came down to a battle of wills.”
The win, coupled with NPL’s loss to Troy gives NEB a 3-game lead on the Mounties going into the final rotation of divisional play.
Its chaos in Large School, as the loss drops Towanda into a 3-way tie with NP-Mansfield, and Athens while Troy lurks just one game back.
“Overall I'm just super proud of our boys,” Burgert said. “What they finished off tonight with this win has never been done, to my knowledge, since our league went Small School/Large School, and that is we have swept the Large School teams. So, not to be dramatic, this is for all the small school teams, who have more often than not been cannon fodder in these cross over games.”
NEB won the JV game 50-29 as four players hit double figures for the Panthers - Gross (14 points), Landon Chapman (13 points), Anthony Johnson (11 points), and Landon Knolles (10 points).
Keegan Stroud had seven points to lead Towanda.
The Knights will look to rebound at home as they take on Athens on Friday, while NEB can all but clinch the Small School title with a win at NP-Liberty on Friday.
“We'll enjoy this tonight,” Burgert said. “Back to work tomorrow. The hungry dog hunts, while the full dog sleeps.”
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PHOTOS BY TINA MAYNARD
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