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After a tightly contested first quarter had wrapped up, it looked to be an incredibly close contest. But the second quarter saw the Ironmen start to pick up steam, as they leaned heavily on sixth man Tony Derrer and Jeremy Howard. Adam Duerksen had run into foul trouble, but it didnÕt stop them from overcoming the odds and gaining some sizable margins over the Snowbirds.

As the third quarter came to a pleasing halt, the Ironmen were still sitting on a relatively comfortable 44-37 advantage. However, things started to unravel for Mancelona in the fourth quarter as they helplessly watched their seemingly respectable cushion vanish in a short amount of time. The melodramatics of the fourth quarter ended up netting St. MaryÕs a furious comeback. The storming from behind tied the lead and, much to the chagrin of Mancelona, sent the game into a precarious overtime session. The fourth ended in a 57-57 deadlock. But the Ironmen stood up, outplaying the competition in the overtime period. A sensational shot by Ironmen Will Bowen pulled Mancelona ahead with a mere 1.6 seconds on the game clock. That was all theyÕd need to secure an amazing victory, one that Mancelona head coach Rick Duerksen is happy to see.

"We gave up some of our rebounding in the first quarter when Adam Deurksen picked up 3 early fouls, but Tony Derrer came off the bench to give us a strong inside game.Ó

"The kids continue to play hard and our shooting is starting to come around.Ó

Luckily for the Ironmen, it came around at just the right times. Jeremy Howard had a dazzling day from the floor, netting 31 points and 10 rebounds, a respectable double double. DerrerÕs off-the-bench antics helped Mancelona, as he scored nine points, grabbed seven rebounds, and recorded five blocked shots. Adam Duerksen also contributed positively for the Ironmen, with nine points, six rebounds and three assists. The Ironmen shot nearly 50 percent from the floor as a team, eclipsing the SnowbirdsÕ pedestrian 36 percent showing. Mancelona improves to 3-2 and will spar with the Trojans of Central Lake on Friday.