Kutztown, Pa. - Georgian Court University and Kutztown University grappled for 45 minutes in a Saturday showdown as the hometown Bears outlasted the Lions in overtime, 88-84, to secure the non-conference thriller.

Saturday's contest marked the Lions' first trip to overtime since falling to Mercy College, 82-81, back on Nov. 15, 2014 in the Nyack College Tournament.

The slugfest seemed destined to be a classic right from the start as faithful in the stands witnessed 11 lead changes and 14 stalemates. After trailing by one (22-21) after the first quarter of action, GCU rebounded to take its largest lead of the game when Dora Cipcic's jumper in the paint put the Lions ahead, 40-35, with 2:33 to go in the second.

After the Lions came out of intermission with a slim 40-39 advantage, the differential never exceeded three points in the third as the home team secured a 54-52 surplus heading into the fourth-and-final frame of regulation.

A Carna Prokic layup with 2:53 remaining  put the road warriors ahead 52-49, the largest lead for either team in the period. The Kutztown defense would proceed to keep its guest scoreless the rest of regulation, while Alexis Smith's (Fr.-Dauphin, Pa.) lay-in with 24 ticks left set the stage for a fifth stanza.

The Bears (7-4) waited until the 2:19 mark of OT to mount its largest lead of the day as Gabbi Wright's (So.-Elkins Park, Pa.) layup put KU ahead, 82-77. Georgian Court refused to quit as the Lions mustered a 4-0 spurt, capped by a pair of Jess Placher free throws, to inch within one (82-81) with just 1:40 left.

With the score knotted at 84-84 (0:29) after a clutch three-pointer from Prokic, Kutzown composed itself and ripped off four points over the next 19 seconds to escape with the hard-fought victory.

"I am so proud of our effort," stated GCU head coach, Jazz Perazic. "We always talk about how in every negative there is always a positive. We have had some unfortunate injuries to our key players, but our team will never quit.   Other players had opportunity to step up. I am impressed with our team and so proud of everyone. We will just keep getting better."

Destiny Thompson topped the Lions in the scoring column with a team season-best 25 points, shooting 12-of-14 from the floor in 25 minutes of action. Prokic followed with 24 points of her own, hitting 9-of-12 field goals, while dishing a game-high eight assists. Placher popped in four three-points for GCU, ending the effort with 19 points.

Six Bears achieved double-digits in the triumph, led by Karen Lapkiewicz (So.-Southampton, Pa.) and her team-best 18 points.

Georgian Court (2-7) returns to CACC competition Tuesday evening with a divisional showdown vs. Goldey-Beacom College in the Wellness Center Arena.