FARMVILLE – The Prince Edward County High School basketball team had plenty of chances and reasons to pack it in early in a Monday night Southside District contest against Greensville County, but chose to keep chopping away at their visiting opponent.

In the end, the homestanding Eagles were rewarded with a 70-64 victory in overtime.

Prince Edward (10-10, 6-6 SSD), which held a small lead in the first quarter, didn't enjoy another advantage on the scoreboard until the extra four-minute session until guard Djuan Wilburn hit a floater to put his team ahead 60-58.

From there, what once seemed difficult looked rather easy for the Eagles, as they went on to claim the six-point victory.

“We needed this one,” said PECHS head coach James Scott. “For the longest time, it seemed like we couldn't get that loose ball, or that they would get two shots at the basket every time down. Things were going against us, until late in the game.”

Greensville (also nicknamed the Eagles) broke open a close game late in the first half to take a 34-24 lead at the intermission. Prince Edward chopped Greensville's advantage to two points at one time in the third quarter with five-consecutive possessions to either tie the game or take the lead, before Greensville again built a double-digit lead.

Prince Edward wouldn't go away, and chipped away at the Greensville lead in the fourth quarter, and finally knotted the contest at 56 apiece on a Darius Ford lay-up with 1:50 remaining in regulation.

Dwright Smith answered on the other end with a stick-back bucket, but missed the bonus foul shot – something that became a common thread for the visiting Eagles, who were 6-17 at the foul line in the fourth quarter and overtime period.

A lay-up by Walter Christmas again tied the score at 58-58 with 53 seconds left. Content to take the last possession, Greensville worked the clock down into single-digits, before Greensville guard Alvin Pair made his move to the bucket. As he stepped around Ford, the referee whistled Pair for a palming violation, which gave PE possession, and a chance to end the game in regulation.

Ford couldn't get a last-second floater to go, but that didn't slow Prince Edward. The PE Eagles built a 64-59 lead on a second tear-drop floater by Wilburn, and Ford extended the PE lead to six points at 65-59 with a foul shot with 1:20 remaining.

Greensville's Deshawn Davis pulled his team back to within four points at 65-61, but Saunders and Wilburn maintained the two-possession lead by combining to go 4-4 in the final minute at the foul line.

“Both teams play an aggressive style of defense,” said Scott. “We'd get something that would work, and then they'd adjust to it. Finally, we decided to throw a combination of defenses at them to keep them off-balance, and it worked for us.”

Pair led the Greensville Eagles with 17 points on the night, while Justin Seaborne scored 12. For the game, Greensville was 18-34 (53 percent) from the foul line, which was a departure from its 7-9 (78 percent) in the first half.

Prince Edward was led by Wilburn, who scored a game-high 19 points, while Ford, who is still continuing to recover from a shoulder injury, added 16. Saunders scored ten of his 15 points in the fourth quarter and overtime period. He was also 7-8 from the foul line.

“Darius isn't at 100 percent yet, but it's good to have him be able to shoot the ball a little again,” said Scott. “I thought Rakeem played within himself tonight. He didn't try to do too much, and let the game come to him. He and Djuan really stepped it up in the second half.”

At 6-6 in league play, Prince Edward sits alone in fourth place in the Southside District standings as teams wrap up regular-season play this week. The Eagles have a good chance to enter the postseason on a roll, and will have the benefit of playing their final two games at home. On Wednesday night, PE hosts Southampton. The Eagles got a narrow victory over the Indians prior to the Christmas break. On Friday, PE will host Nottoway. The Eagles lost a close contest to the Cougars in January.

“It's a big week for us. This one wasn't easy, and the week isn't going to get any easier. We're glad we get to play these games at home.”