Wednesday night’s consolation bracket matchup at the Cougar Classic between Millburn and host Chatham was a boys basketball game for the ages. From start to finish, the game could not have been much closer.

In the end, however, it was the Millers who responded in overtime to defeat the Cougars by a score of 49-47.

“This is the way we’ve got to play,” said Millburn head coach Rodger Blind. “We have to get contributions from a lot of guys.”

The Millers (1-4) got good performances all-around for their first win of the season, especially from seniors Tony Bai and Brian Barkley, who finished with 18 and 15 points for Millburn, respectively.

The contest went back and forth between the two teams, with Millburn holding a 14-13 edge at the end of the opening period. Chatham would come back with a strong second quarter to take a one-point, 22-21 lead at halftime.

Millburn looked to be pulling ahead with a 38-35 lead after three quarters of play. Chatham, however, would tie the game at 44-44 with 1:11 remaining following two successful free throw attempts from forward Sam Carson. That was the score at the end of regulation, as a clutch Joe Timmes rebound for Chatham prevented the Millers from scoring before the buzzer.

Millburn won the tip-off in overtime and outscored the Cougars 5-3 during the period, riding clutch free throws from Barkley and Gabe Inwood while limiting scoring opportunities for Chatham (3-2).

“They made shots; I thought we played pretty well. Their kids hit big shots in overtime, and we just had problems converting offensively,” said Chatham head coach Todd Ervin. “We didn’t get enough good looks, so I think that’s what it came down to. We just struggled offensively.”

“We certainly can move forward from this, but it’s a game we could have won,” continued Ervin. “We certainly had our chances, but they converted on theirs and we didn’t convert on ours.”

Carson led the Cougars with 14 points, shooting a perfect 11-for-11 from the free throw line. Timmes also contributed significantly for Chatham with a double-double (12 points and 11 rebounds).

For Millburn, this win serves as a sign of an upward trend for a team that has fought hard, yet struggled early in the season.

“It definitely feels good to win,” said Bai, who made three of his four three-point attempts. “We moved up a conference, so we definitely needed this. We’re going to keep working hard.”

A little bit of momentum doesn’t hurt, either.

“We’ve had a couple games, like opening night against Caldwell, where we didn’t shoot the ball well. We played Orange, who’s very good and tough, and lost by eight points. New Providence is excellently coached and shot the ball really well,” said Blind. “We were looking for a win, and I hope this ignites us now. I think we’ve got a good team; we’re in a very, very good league (the Super Essex Conference), so we’ve got our work cut out for us.”