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The last time these two met, the Vikings missed a three at the buzzer and the Trojans escaped with a win.
Wednesday, the two met in the first round of the Canes Invitational and gave the packed crowd of 1,200 an even better show than before.
Four quarters of basketball wasn't enough to settle this one as Trojan senior Darius Silver went the length of the floor and made a layup at the horn to give Southeast an 81-80 victory.
With the win, Southeast remains undefeated and advances to round two, where they will face Roanoke Rapids tonight at 9.
The Trojans were 10 seconds away from the losers' bracket before Silver's heroics. Northwest took a one-point lead on a layup by Antonio Richardson with seven seconds remaining.
Southeast then took a timeout, giving Silver a chance to redeem himself. The guard had missed a lay-up earlier in the contest and was visibly frustrated in the huddle, but after the game-winning coast-to-coast layup, Silver was all smiles.
“He missed all those lay-ups and was down on himself,” Trojan coach Larry Edwards said. “But he came through in the end.”
Edwards said the final play wasn't set up for Silver, but the veteran coach was more than happy with the results.
“He did his own thing, but it worked out,” Edwards joked. “I expected full-court pressure, but they didn't give us any pressure. So our philosophy is to take the ball to the hole with less than 10 seconds to go.”
The layup set off a wild celebration on the Southeast side of the court, but it was a heartbreaker for Northwest, which once again let one slip away against its county rival.
“I thought we played hard; I thought both teams played hard,” Vikings head coach Donald Gibbs said. “I take my hat off to Southeast - they made plays when they had to make them.”
Trailing by two, 75-73, Southeast forced the game into overtime when guard Kilauntae Scott made a steal at halfcourt.
Scott took the ball the distance for a layup and was fouled in the process, tying the game at 75.
He calmly knocked down the foul shot, giving the Trojans a one-point lead with 15 seconds left.
The Vikings then worked the ball inside to Jeremy Draughn, who was fouled by Demonte Williams. Draughn missed the first shot, and made the second to force overtime.
Gibbs said his guys missed some opportunities to win the game late. “I thought we had a chance to win it,” he said. “But we had two breakdowns - one in the end of regulation and one in overtime.”
Southeast continues to impress this season, showing a lot of heart down the stretch in big games and also a lot of character.
“I give it to the guys,” Edwards said. “They could have quit when Elton (Williams) went out. They could have quit many times but they kept fighting.”
Williams, the Trojans' leading scorer, fouled out with 7:42 remaining in regulation. But the senior duo of Scott and Robert Harper stepped up down the stretch. Harper hit a three to pull Southeast within three, 71-68, followed by a shot from three-point range from Scott to tie the game at 71.
The scenario was very much like the previous contest between the teams, when the combination of Scott and Harper caused so many problems for the Vikings, who have now dropped three games to the Trojans this season.
Edwards said it's very difficult to pull off a season sweep of any team. “It's really, really hard beating a good team, which Northwest is, three times. Sometimes you just need some luck.”
Williams, despite fouling out, led the Trojans with 21 points. Harper added 17 and Demonte Williams finished with 14. Scott added 13.
The Vikings were led by Hakeem Clements, who finished with a game-high 23 points. Draughn and Brian McGee added 14 apiece. Richardson finished with 10 points off the bench.
Northwest will play Northampton-West today at 5 p.m. in the consolation bracket.
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