It didn’t come easy and at times was dicey, but the PCM boys’ basketball team kept their unblemished home record intact last night with a 57-53 victory over Roland-Story in overtime.

Both offenses started slow with the Mustangs leading 9-6 after the first quarter and 20-16 at the break. PCM picked things up in the second half on the strength of hot shooting from Andrew Van Ryswyk and they got out to a double-digit lead early in the fourth. The Norsemen got hot themselves from long range and came all the way back to force overtime after a Sam Skaar three at the buzzer. The extra four minutes belonged to the Mustangs however, as Isaac Telfer scored the first six points and solid free throw shooting salted the game away. Van Ryswyk finished with a game-high 22 points and Telfer had 12. Van Ryswyk tells KRLS Sports at the end of regulation the team could have folded but chose the opposite route to regroup in overtime.

“Coach just told us not to give up and don’t lose focus on the game plan. We went out there in overtime and played our game.” The Mustangs improve to 8-5 including 5-0 at home and stay in the mix for the Heart of Iowa Conference crown.

In the opener the Mustang girls got out to a tough start, had a furious comeback, but fell short against Roland-Story 58-45. After a forgettable first half trailing 33-11 at the break, the switch was turned in the third with PCM outscoring the Norseman 24-6 in that timeframe to get within four. Regan Freland, Emma George, and Cameron Wignall all headlined the comeback hitting from long range. Roland-Story gained back the momentum however in the fourth; quickly getting the lead back up to double-digits and never let the Mustangs get any closer. Freland finished the night with 23 points and Emma George had nine. PCM falls to 5-10.

The boys clash with Grand View Christian on Saturday while the girls are off until Tuesday when they face Saydel.