Marquette’s Luke Ogea, center, performs a layup against Negaunee Thursday night, Feb. 16, 2017 at Lakeview Elementary School. (Journal photo by Rachel Oakley)

NEGAUNEE — Fans may have gotten even more than they expected out of the Negaunee and Marquette boys basketball teams at Lakeview Memorial Gymnasium on Thursday night.

For one thing, they got a fifth quarter as the Miners and Redmen needed overtime before Marquette came out on top 64-60.

Trailing 54-51 with 2.5 seconds left in regulation, Marquette’s Alex DuVall tried a 3-pointer to tie and was fouled by Negaunee’s Darius Provost. DuVall then sank all three free throws to tie it 54-54.

“There isn’t anyone else I would want in that moment,” Marquette head coach Brad Nelson said. “I always tell the team that free throws win games and that was a big reason why we were able to win tonight.”

“We made a mistake on defense,” Negaunee head coach Dan Waterman said. “I didn’t explain clear enough to the team how to defend there, but credit to DuVall for hitting the free throws.”

The Miners still had a shot at avoiding overtime, but Dre Tuominen’s nearly halfcourt shot at the buzzer rolled around the rim and fell off.

Thirty-two minutes were not enough to decide the winner of this game, so the teams played some more.

Marquette led throughout OT, their first time holding the advantage since the opening quarter, after freshman Joe Ostrowsky hit a 3-pointer just five seconds in. He added two free throws before Negaunee scored to make it 59-54.

Between those two scores, Neguanee lost one of its two stars, senior big man Trent Bell after he picked up his fifth foul.

“It was an intense game and Trent plays very hard,” Waterman said. “He had a bad foul at the end of the third quarter, but we were able to maintain our lead without him in the fourth quarter.”

Tuominen finally got the Miners on the board in the extra period with a basket that cut Marquette’s lead to 59-56. About a minute later, he hit another shot to make it 60-58.

Then as the clock ticked down, MSHS senior Garrett Finkbeiner sank two free throws to put the Redmen back up by two scores. Tuominen responded with yet another basket to make it a two-point game again.

Ostrowsky put it out of reach with 8.2 seconds to go when he drained two final free throws.

“This is going to hurt a little,” Waterman said. “We tell our players to play until the final buzzer and this game is why, but we’re going to shake it off and get ready for our next game.”

Finkbeiner led the Redmen with 19 points and five rebounds, while DuVall added 16 points and Ostrowsky 14.

Tuominen recorded game highs of 34 points and eight rebounds. He made 14 of 17 free throws.

“He was exceptional,” Waterman said about Tuominen. “He kept us in the game and put the team on his back in the fourth quarter and overtime.”

Nelson said that the Redmen didn’t defend Tuominen well and that he made lots of good plays.

“With Trent out of the game, we had to focus on Tuominen a lot more and we didn’t do a good job at doing that,” Nelson said.

Bell had 14 points for the Miners.

Marquette improved to 15-1 for the season while Negaunee fell to 12-4.

“This loss doesn’t effect our long-term goals,” Waterman said. “We control our own destiny in our conference and that’s what we are focused on.”

In the first quarter, both teams got on the board by hitting 3-pointers. Negaunee led 14-10 at the end of the period despite Finkbeiner’s eight points.

Finkbeiner finished the first half with 11 points, keeping the Redmen within 20-18 at halftime. Tuominen had nine points by the break.

After Marquette freshman Luke Ogea tied it early in the third, Negaunee went on an 8-0 run to take a 28-20 lead and still had a 35-31 advantage heading into the fourth.

Negaunee rebuilt a 46-39 lead near the midpoint of the fourth, but Finkbeiner and Ostrowsky each hit 3s to cut their deficit to one point with 2:43 left.

NHS kept a slim lead, making it a three-point advantage after Tuominen hit a pair of free throws with 7.7 seconds left.

The Miners’ boys open a varsity doubleheader at Westwood at 6 p.m. today, with the girls game following at 7:30 p.m. Marquette hosts Sault Ste. Marie at 2 p.m. Saturday.

“We’re in the process of getting ready for March so this game was the perfect test for us,” Nelson said. “We’re going to have another tough game on Saturday, but we’ll be ready for it.”

Marquette JV won 57-48.

Email Julie Goldberg at sports@miningjournal.net.