Trey Brandt followed the eyes of Logan Harner and jumped in front of the latter’s pass attempt destined for his teammate Erik Foster to right of the paint.

After securing the steal, Brandt tore down the court and finished a fastbreak layup on the other end, giving the Beulah Miners a 60-58 lead in the final minute of overtime.

The two points represented the last of Brandt’s 31 on the evening, leading the Miners to a dramatic 62-58 comeback overtime win over the Rugby Panthers in the two teams’ Tuesday evening Hoopster Classic matchup at the Minot State Dome.

“I thought he was pressing a little bit, I think part of it was knowing that (Trapper Skalsky) wasn’t in the lineup, and he maybe felt he had to do more,” said Beulah head coach Jeremy Brandt. “Man, did he hit some big shots when we needed them in some clutch situations.”

The majority of the 6’1″ guard’s contributions on the evening came in the final 12 minutes of play. The Miners had trailed by as many as 12 points midway through the third quarter, and thanks in part to four Brandt points to close out the third, Beulah trailed by just seven entering the fourth quarter.

Brandt took over in the final period of regulation. He opened the frame with a pair of free throws, and after two more makes from the charity stripe by Brooks Vigesaa, Brandt matched his jersey number, scoring the Miners’ next 11 points.

The stretch gave Beulah a brief 46-45 advantage before Erik Foster and Kory Vetsch took the lead right back with four unanswered, and Brandt and Jack Koppelsloen added three more made free throws to send the affairs to overtime, tied at 49.

A Harner layup in the opening seconds of the extra quarter kicked off a quick 6-3 run for the Panthers, but Brandt’s heroics in crunch time proved too much for Rugby to overcome.

“For our younger kids, you can’t measure that. Our younger guys, what a boost of confidence boost it is for them. Jack Koppelsloen hit some big shots down the stretch,” Jeremy Brandt added. “We’re missing 20 points and seven rebounds with a sprained ankle that didn’t even get to play tonight with Trapper tonight. They stayed engaged and really got mentally tough as the game went on.”

The Panthers took command of the affairs early in the first quarter, leaping out to an early 12-5 advantage led by six Brody Schneibel points and four more from Gavin Schepp. Koppelsloen and Tarren Larson combined for six for the Miners around a Jacob Ripplinger triple, and Rugby held a four-point lead entering the second quarter.

The two squads played an evenly-matched second frame, one that saw Rugby outscore Beulah 12-11 on the strength of two quarter-opening threes by Harner and four more points from Schneibel. The Panthers cruised out of the halftime break as well, cranking out an 8-1 stretch to open the third quarter before the Miners took over.

Brandt’s 31 points marked a game-high, followed by 14 from Koppelsloen. Schneibel led the Panthers with 14 and Foster added 12. The Miners will have a quick turnaround for their next contest, slated for Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m. against Enderlin. Rugby’s next game is scheduled for Jan. 6 against Des Lacs-Burlington.