ALBION, Mich. -- Kam Mayes held the ball on the left wing with 12 seconds left.

Down by one point to Ohio Northern at Kresge Gymnasium, the senior who missed all but two games last season with a knee injury found an opening and drove to the paint. With three seconds on the shot clock, he threw up a one-handed floater on the run.

The ball bounced off the right side of the rim, hit the backboard and fell through the net that gave the Britons the 72-71 victory over the Polar Bears.

"That was a dog fight," head coach Jody May said afterwards as he was swarmed by his team. "We put in two really tough days of practice to prepare for this, and I'm really happy they got to see the results.

"That was an unbelievably hard-fought game with a lot of ups and downs, but a lot of really good things happened."

After a slow start to the game, Albion utilized a 14-5 run to take a 25-20 advantage with eight minutes left in the half. During the stretch, Dwayne Ray's three pointer with 11:21 remaining helped the Britons take their first sustained lead of the half.

Albion stretched their advantage to eight, 32-24, with 6:30 left but the Polar Bears crept back into the contest and ended the stanza on a 16-7 run to take their first lead, 40-39, in over 13 minutes.

The Polar Bears continued their momentum into the second, as they opened the stanza on a 9-3 run.

However, Albion chipped at the lead and made it 57-56 with 7:21 left courtesy of an 11-5 run in a five-minute stretch.

One minute later, the Britons took their first advantage of the second half on a pair of Kurtis Rhodes free throws, 60-59.

After two more ties, Mayes's two shots from the charity stripe made it 64-62 with 3:23 remaining.

ONU knotted the game back up after two free throws and a three as the shot clock expired, but Truman King answered right back with a triple of his own to make it 67-67 with a minute and a half remaining.

Two made free throws put the Polar Bears back in the driver seat, but a Rhodes three with 48 seconds left helped give the Britons some life.

A contested layup from Ohio Northern 11 seconds later set the stage for Mayes's game-winner.

All nine players who saw time scored for Albion, led by Mayes's 21. The senior also went 14-of-16 from the charity stripe. Rhodes added 16 points and six rebounds in his first start of the season, while Michael Umeh had five boards and three blocks despite scoring only two points.

It was also a very physical game, as a combined 48 fouls were called in the contest.

The game marked the first meeting between the two teams since November 30, 2002, and the Britons' first victory over the Polar Bears since 1947.

May, who played at ONU from 1989-93 and won a national championship as a team captain his senior season, squared off against his alma mater for the first time in his 18-year head coaching career.

Up Next
The Britons will not be in action until Monday, December 15 as they travel to Illinois Tech. Game time is scheduled for 6 p.m. EST.