The Lane Titans Men's Basketball team's season ended Friday morning in Pasco, Washington to the hands of the Spokane Sasquatch.
A game winning layup with 3.6 seconds left proved to be the dagger for the upset hopeful Titans.
Lane entered the game with a record of 20-7 and a 3 seed in the Southern Region.
Spokane entered 23-6, good for the 2 seed in the East.
After trading early blows, the Titans controlled a majority of the first half.
Back-to-back threes by Brody Roth put the Titans up 29-20 with 8 minutes remaining in the half.
After a lay-in by Ben Thornbrue pushed the Titan lead to 11, the Sasquatch responded and trimmed the lead to just 2 before a buzzer-beating three by Silas Wright put the Titans up 5 going into halftime.
Spokane's defense keyed in on Titan star Ben Thornbrue, holding him to a quiet first half by his standards with 7 points and 2 rebounds.
Silas Wright made up the difference in a major way, however, scoring 11 points on 3-3 shooting from behind the arc.
Brody Roth and Lawson Vella chipped in with 6 points each.
The Sasquatch cut the lead to 1 after a couple minutes of play in the second half, but the Titan offense found its groove as they pushed the lead back up to 12 midway through the half.
Thornbrue started to find his footing in the paint, and a tough bucket with 8 minutes to go put the Titans up 14 points, their largest lead of the game.
A desperate Sasquatch squad turned up the pressure defensively, as back-to-back steals in the backcourt followed by quick scores brought lead back down to 9 with 7 minutes left in the game.
Another basket inside by Thornbrue put the Titans back up 11 with 5 minutes to go, and the Titans began to try and kill time.
The pressure did not stop, however, and Spokane once again found themselves with back-to-back steals and a 6 point deficit.
The Titans would score their last point of the game with 2:34 left on the clock, a layup by Silas Wright that put the Titans back up 10.
Spokane converted on 4 of their next 5 possessions, and a three by Grant Olsen cut the lead to 1 with under a minute to play.
The Titans failed to score on the next possession but got the stop they needed.
Ben Thornbrue was fouled with 9 seconds left but unfortunately missed the front end of a one-and-one.
Spokane's Zack Reighard was able to take the ball the length of the floor and score with just 3.6 seconds left on the clock to put Spokane up 1, their first lead since early in the first half.
The Titans were able to advance the ball the length of the court but were unable to obtain a clean look as they lose the game 72-71.
Despite the loss, it has been an encouraging season for the Titans.
In just his third year as Head Coach, CJ Edwards has turned the Titans into a serious contender in the competitive NWAC Southern Region, and were moments away from making the programs first Elite Eight since 2022.
The Titans will once again look to reload their roster and make a run at the NWAC Tournament in the 2025-2026 season.