NEWBERN &8212; It didn&8217;t look good for the No. 7 ranked Linden Patriots with eight minutes left to play in its area tournament game against the Akron Rams. They found themselves down 50-36 at the start of the fourth quarter, battled back to tie the game and then went on to win it in overtime, 73-68.

Akron ended the last two and a half minutes of the third quarter with eight unanswered points to grab the 14-point lead.

Linden would open the fourth quarter with an 11-0 run to get within four points and just under six minutes left in regulation. A turn around jumper by JeMarcus LeDuff would put the Patriots on top 60-59 with 1:42 showing on the clock.

After an Akron turnover, a Sean Richardson lay up would give Linden a three-point advantage. But, a free throw by and a break away lay up by the Rams Courtney Howard would tie the game at 62 with 30 seconds to go.

The score remained tied to send the game to overtime.

Linden netted 26 points in the fourth quarter.

In the overtime period with the score tied at 66, LeDuff scored underneath for the Patriots to give his team the lead. Akron&8217;s Jermaine Tubbs tied the score at 68 on a jumper with a minute left in overtime. That would be the last of the Rams scoring, as LeDuff would score again underneath to put his team up 70-68 with 41 second on the clock.

Linden determined the flow of the game through the first quarter, as they started with a 15-9 advantage after the opening quarter.

Turnovers by the Patriots allowed Akron to stay close in the second quarter and eventually grab the lead on a Howard triple. Howard would hit another three-pointer before the end of the half as the Rams edged the Patriots 28-27 after two quarters of play. Howard scored 12 of the 19 second quarter points for Akron.

The Rams would outscore the Patriots 22-9 in the third quarter, including the final eight points.

Howard grabbed scoring honors with 28 points. Tubbs finished with 25 points. Sean Richardson topped the Patriots with 18 points. LeDuff added 15 points off the bench and all in the second half. Kendarius Goodwill chipped in 13 points.