Merry Acres stays unbeaten with overtime three from Princeton Atkins

ALBANY — Princeton Atkins made the shot that could have won it. It didn’t count.

Given another chance Wednesday night, he made the shot that did.

Atkins swished a corner 3-pointer with six seconds left in overtime to lift Merry Acres past Radium Springs 41-40 in a Deep South Conference game that gave a packed gym plenty of reasons to sweat.

The basketball provided some. The broken air conditioning took care of the rest.

Fans stood shoulder to shoulder inside the sold-out Merry Acres gym, where the Braves remained undefeated after a finish that required two celebrations — one premature, the other worth the wait.

With the score tied at 37 and 12 seconds remaining in regulation, Radium Springs had possession and a chance to win. A Merry Acres steal changed that. The ball found Atkins, who buried a 3-pointer with four seconds left.

The crowd erupted. But a timeout had nullified the basket.

Just like that, the Braves went from celebrating a potential winner to drawing up another attempt. Atkins tried again after the timeout. This one missed.

Overtime it was.

Radium Springs quickly made the most of the reprieve. Drew Bryant scored to put the Panthers ahead, and a Merry Acres turnover gave Radium another possession.

Then the conditions became part of the game.

Ke’Marion Graham drove toward the basket, but his foot slipped on the damp floor. Officials called traveling, returning the ball to Merry Acres. The floor had grown slippery during the second half, though the game continued to its conclusion.

The Braves couldn’t capitalize on that possession. An errant pass gave the Panthers the ball again, and Roberts made one of two free throws for a 40-37 lead.

Merry Acres answered with a free throw. Still, with time running short, the Braves needed a basket to stay alive and a 3-pointer to move ahead.

Atkins supplied the latter.

His shot from the corner dropped with six seconds remaining, turning a two-point deficit into a one-point lead. This time, the basket stood. So did Merry Acres’ unbeaten start.

Atkins finished with a game-high 17 points. Watson added 11 for the Braves, and Candler Williams scored seven.

Jeremiah Jordan led Radium Springs with 10 points, followed by Landon Johnson with eight and Bryant with seven.

Merry Acres also won the girls game, holding off Radium Springs 16-8.

The Lady Braves built a 10-2 halftime lead, giving themselves enough room to withstand a late push. Radium Springs scored three baskets in the final six minutes but couldn’t close the gap.

Aubree Motley, Landyn Bracy and Britteny Andrews scored four points apiece for Merry Acres, completing a sweep on a night when the home crowd had to work almost as hard to stay cool as the Braves did to stay unbeaten.