By Noah Grant / Sports Reporter / St. Cloud, Minn

-In a wild night of Central Lakes Conference boys basketball, St. Cloud Tech dropped their final home game of the regular season to St. Cloud Apollo. The game featured multiple lead changes, and would ultimately need double overtime to give the Eagles the 75-72 victory. 

Both teams would come out strong, with the game tied at seven after 2:30 had been played. From there, the Tigers would go on a 7-0 run to take the lead, capitalizing on several turnovers from Apollo. Tech held the lead for the entire first half, as a balanced offensive attack coupled with stout defense were their keys to success. Apollo had multiple miscues offensively, including a few traveling violations, but their defense held strong at big moments to keep the game close. 

Eagles junior Micah Nwachukwa drilled a couple of key shots in the final minutes to cut the Tiger lead to 32-31 at the half. Apollo was also led by sophomore Trevor Terfehr, whose 15 points represented almost half of the Eagles offense, while also grabbing several rebounds.

In the second half, it was almost an identical storyline to the first half, but this time the Eagles found themselves with the advantage early on. Apollo scored the first 11 points of the half, building their lead to 10 and holding Tech off the board until almost four minutes in. The lead would stretch to as much as 12, but the Tigers wouldn’t back down. Tech junior Jiech Jiech, who had just four points in the first half, came to life with 11 second half points, while junior Nick Brakes continued to drain shots. 

The Tigers would eventually tie the game with just over a minute to go. On the ensuing possession, Terfehr would drive in and put the Eagles ahead 63-61 with his layup. Jiech had an answer ready, however, finishing off a layup of his own with 4.5 seconds left in regulation to knot the score. The Eagles looked like they would get the final say, as Terfehr cut all the way to the rim off the ensuing inbounds, but his game-winning shot wouldn’t fall and the game headed to overtime. 

Each team traded six points in the first OT, including a clutch three from Terfehr to tie it late. This time it was Jiech with a chance to win the ball game, but his long trey at the buzzer wouldn’t go. In the second overtime, Apollo would finally pull away, with Nwachukwa hitting a few free throws to give the Eagles the win. Terfehr finished the night with 23 points to lead the way offensively, while Brakes posted a season-high 26 points for the Tigers in the loss.

With the victory, Apollo extended their winning streak to six games heading into their season finale on Friday against Willmar. Tech drops to 12-13 on the year, and will close out the regular season on the road at Fergus Falls Friday.