MADISON—Seymour’s boys basketball team scored the final six points in overtime to pull out a dramatic 53-50 victory over Madison Thursday night.

Those points came on a jumper by Landon Fritsch and on free throws by Charlie Longmeier and Eli Meyer, sophomores all. Madison attempted a desperation 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded, but the ball caromed harmlessly off the rim and into Fritsch’s waiting hands.

“It’s going to be a fun ride home,” Seymour coach Kirk Manns said. “It was a great win for our team, but also a good win for our program. Madison’s a good basketball team. Our guys fought through quite a bit. We were purposeful out there.”

Thursday’s win is Owls’ first this season over a team with a winning record and handed Madison its first conference loss of the year. The Owls are 8-8.

The Cubs (10-5) came into the contest atop the Hoosier Hills Conference standings and clearly hoped to bury the struggling Owls in the first quarter. Madison made eight of its first 11 shots and held a 16-11 lead with two minutes left in the opening period.

But Seymour never backed down or allowed itself to get overwhelmed.

The Owls responded by going on an 8-2 run to take a 19-18 lead early in the second quarter. It was game on the rest of the way.

The two teams were tied 10 times during the game and traded the lead seven times.

When Madison scored the first four points of the fourth quarter to move in front 44-40, Seymour got a 3-pointer by Longmeier and a driving layup by Marcus Brooks to reclaim the lead at 45-44.

Madison’s Luke Miller hit a free throw to tie the game at 45 with 2:16 left and the two teams held each other scoreless over the rest of regulation time.

In overtime, Madison again jumped to an early lead, taking a 50-47 lead with 2:35 to go.

Fritsch nailed a jumper from the left side 14 seconds later to pull the Owls to within 50-49. Longmeier then drained two free throws with 26 seconds left on the clock. Meyer’s two foul shots fell with just seven seconds to go.

“We had a couple of chances to give up tonight,” Manns said, “but we kept grinding. We stayed with them and continued to do what we needed to do. Most importantly, we stayed patient.”

Meyer led Seymour with 15 points, while Fritsch ended with 11. Casey Regruth provided an offensive spark in the first half and finished with 11 points. Dylan Fields played his best game, giving the Owls important minutes defensively and scoring two points.

Madison was led by Miller’s game-high 21 points.