Free throws played a crucial role in Cheektowaga’s 65-64 overtime victory over Depew Friday, with makes by the Warriors and misses by the Wildcats both coming at the most crucial of moments.

Derek Clyburn, who coach Pat Cullinan said “saved us” by coming in off the bench and “giving us great minutes and great energy,” knocked down a pair of free throws after securing an offensive rebound with Cheektowaga trailing by two with just five seconds to play in regulation.

Depew’s Jaden Cotton — whose 32 points make him the only Wildcat to finish in double figures — had a chance to at least potentially send the game to a second overtime with a pair of free throw attempts with just six seconds to play in the initial extra session, but he missed the second attempt. Depew snatched the offensive rebound but came up empty on the quick putback attempt, and though the Warriors grabbed the rebound of that miss, they couldn’t clinch the game at the line either, missing both foul shot attempts with three and a half seconds to play.

Fortunately for the Warriors — who outscored the Wildcats 17-13 in the fourth quarter to extend the game — Marquel Jackson was able to pull down the rebound on the second miss and dribble out the remaining time on the clock for the dramatic win.

“It was your typical ECIC III game,” Cullinan said. “We went back and forth the whole game. They made things difficult for us offensively, and I think we settled for a lot of stuff in the first half. Fortunately we played well enough defensively to stay a couple of plays from turning it around in the second half.”

“Overtime was actually pretty high scoring compared with how the rest of the game went,” Cullinan added.

Cheektowaga, which finished the game 17-of-27 from the foul line, was led by Ernie Vann’s 19 points. Kyle Mcduffie added 13 points, while Zak Ciezki chipped in with 12. Clyburn’s 10 points gave the Warriors four players in double figures, while Melvin Henly scored five of his seven points in overtime.

Cheektowaga came into Friday’s contest looking to get over a bizarre set of circumstances that left January 17’s game against Iroquois suspended about halfway through the second quarter. With the Warriors trailing 30-26 at about 7:10 p.m., Iroquois’gym went completely dark due to a nearby power transformer’s failure.

The gym was briefly lit by spectators’ cell phone screens until the backup floodlights eventually kicked on, and when word was given to Iroquois’ athletic director that full power wouldn’t be restored until at least 10 p.m., the decision was made to put the game on hold.

As of press time, a date had not yet been set to conclude the league battle.

“That was definitely a first for me,” Cullinan said. “I had no idea what was going on.”

Cheektowaga (4-6, 4-2 division) returns to action Friday by hosting crosstown and divisional rival Maryvale, and then travels to Pioneer Tuesday to move one step closer to finishing off the season.

“We don’t go into games taking anyone lightly, and with Maryvale having already beaten us once, we’re definitely going to be ready to go Friday,” Cullinan said. “I think we might have turned a corner with our effort against Depew. We’re certainly expecting a war at our place Friday, and there’s no question we’re looking for some revenge. We’re definitely determined to defend our home court.”

email: jnadolinski@beenews.com