The third quarter that settled it

Okoro scored eleven of his 31 in four minutes, Lindqvist found him three times on the same cut, and the Owls never got their spacing back. Twelve and four now, one game behind Northgate, who come here on Sunday week.

The first half was the Owls' half. They hit five threes in the second quarter, two of them from a step behind the line, and the arena went quiet in the way it does when the bar queue suddenly looks more interesting. Varga, back from the ankle, looked a yard slow and picked up his third foul two minutes before the break.

Whatever was said at half time, it was short. Lindqvist came out and ran the same baseline cut for Okoro on three possessions in a row, and Ridgeway guarded it the same way three times. By their timeout the six-point deficit was a five-point lead and section C was on its feet for the first time all evening.

The fourth was nervier than it needed to be: two missed free throws from Halloway, a turnover on an inbound, and the Owls back within three with 1:40 to go. Then Varga, slow ankle and all, took a charge, and Okoro finished it from the line.

Quarters

Leaders