Geneva 65, Kaneland 63

When the game is on the line, Geneva knows where to go.

For the second straight game, Max Cary turned defeat into victory, this time nailing a 3-pointer with 47 seconds left that gave Geneva a 65-63 victory over host Kaneland.

The Knights had two more chances, but missed a drive to the basket, then a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have won the game.

A week earlier, Cary's jumper gave the Vikings a 71-70 lead in their 73-70 victory over Batavia.

"I had a good look in the corner and it went in," said Cary, who gave Geneva a second chance on the possession with an offensive rebound. "I'm just glad it went in."

Cary finished with 22 points, just behind backcourt mate Alex Turnowchyk with 24. They scored 34 of their points in the second half to overcome a career-high 25 points from Kaneland sophomore center Dave Dudzinski.

"We just left them open a little too much in the second half, I thought. We weren't covering up the shooters and that's our fault," Kaneland coach Dennis Hansen said. "It especially cost us at the end."

Geneva (8-2, 5-1) stayed tied with Batavia for the Western Sun Conference lead despite trailing most of the first three quarters.

Kaneland (4-6, 2-4) led by as much as 41-28 early in the third quarter before 13 third-quarter points from Turnowchyk brought the Vikings within 52-51 entering the fourth quarter.

The final quarter was filled with clutch shots from both teams. Cary's 3-pointer marked the eighth lead change in the final 4:47 as one player after another from both sides took turns stepping up.

"It was tough to play under pressure but that's what we have to do to finish out games," Turnowchyk said. "Especially on the road."

With Geneva leading 56-55, Nick Wagner put the Knights back up with 2 free throws. Turnowchyk answered with 2 free throws.

Nate Peters scored on a putback basket, then Rob Tauscher made 2 free throws for the Vikings.

Tauscher was in the game because Jeremy D'Amico fouled out. His two points ended a stretch of nearly two full games that the only players who scored for the Vikings were Turnowchyk, Cary, D'Amico and Chris Jordan.

Trailing 59-58, Dudzinski scored inside for the Knights. Turnowchyk drained his fourth 3-pointer to put Geneva ahead 61-59, only to see Ryley Bailey swish a 3-pointer to put the Knights back on top and set the stage for Cary's game-winner.

"We were fortunate in the second half that Alex Turnowchyk started heating up for us," Geneva coach Tim Pease said. "We did a nice job finding him in the open court.

"Our kids stepped up and made big shots."

The back-and-forth finish mirrored a game that was as dead even statistically as the final score indicates. Geneva and Kaneland both made 24 field goals and seven 3-pointers. The Vikings were 10 of 15 at the free-throw line to Kaneland's 8 of 15.

Dudzinski made 10 of 13 shots from the field and all five of his free throws. He grabbed 10 rebounds.

"He's been playing good all year," Hansen said. "He's been playing great. Usually when he gets the ball good things are happening."

"I credit Kaneland for playing their tails off and making big shots," Pease said. "Their big kid did an outstanding job for them tonight. People keep saying he's going to be a load. He's already a load as far as I'm concerned."

Bailey added 13 points for the Knights and Wagner scored 12.

"We did a lot of good things," Hansen said. "Effort was great. We had a chance to win. I thought our defensive smartness wasn't there in the second half. Other than that we played pretty well."

Jordan had a double-double for Geneva with 10 points and 11 rebounds. D'Amico scored 7 points in limited minutes, meaning Turnowchyk, Cary, Jordan and D'Amico have scored 136 of Geneva's 138 points in the last two games.

"That's kind of the way our team works, when someone is hot we get them the ball," Turnowchyk said.

Geneva doesn't have much time to enjoy its victory. The Vikings open play at the 80th annual Chuck Dayton tournament in DeKalb at 2 p.m. today against Harlem. Kaneland is off until Wednesday when it plays Harvard at Marengo.

"Feel good about this one for about one minute," Pease said.