The Ottawa boys basketball team held a three-point lead with just under six minutes to play in the third quarter of Tuesday’s game against Sandwich at Kingman Gymnasium.

The Pirates, which led 10-9 after the opening quarter and 24-19 at the intermission, then put together a momentum-changing 14-2 run over the next four minutes and eventually closed out a 58-46 victory over the Indians.

“Our energy level was nowhere near where it needs to be in the first half,” Ottawa coach Mark Cooper said, his team now 3-1 on the young season. “We were giving good effort, but we just weren’t crisp, really sluggish on either end of the floor the first 16 minutes. We were fortunate to have the lead going into halftime. Give Sandwich credit though, they were executing on a higher level and rebounding better than we were.”

Up 26-23 with 5 minutes, 55 seconds left on the third-quarter clock after consecutive layups by Sandwich’s Nolan Oros and EJ Treptow, the Pirates found their footing.

An old-fashioned three-point play by Owen Sanders started the burst, which was followed by a pair drives by Jack Carroll and two 3-pointers by Rory Moore [both off assists from George Shumway] around a Sanders free toss to make it 40-25 with. The Pirates closed out the third with a 44-30 lead.

“Jack, George and Rory all had really good games for us, not only stat wise but just in terms of energy, getting on the floor for loose balls and just doing a lot of little things that help you win games,” Cooper said. “Those three guys were big keys to that third-quarter run.”

Sanders posted a game-high and career-best 25 points to go with six rebounds, five steals and two blocks. Moore added 10 points, three rebounds and eight assists with zero turnovers, while Carroll had eight points [on 4-of-4 shooting], four rebounds and three steals. Hezekiah Joachim chipped in six points and four assists.

Sandwich (0-4) used an 8-0 run — highlighted by a triple from Riley Moore and back-to-back layups from Griffin Somolock and Treptow — in the second quarter to hold a 17-12 lead, only to see Ottawa respond with a 12-2 burst to close out the first half.

Treptow led Sandwich with 13 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. Nick Michalek had 11 points, four rebounds and three steals, while Somolock (four rebounds) and Oros each netted eight points.

For the game Ottawa shot 21-of-43 [49%] and Sandwich 18-of-41 [44%], while the Indians won the rebound battle 28-20 and the Pirates the turnover battle 18-9.

“I felt like we really didn’t defend with toughness our first three games this season, so I really challenged the boys here tonight to do that,” Sandwich coach Matt Chalfin said. “Any time you play Ottawa here on their home floor, if you don’t bring it on the defensive end they’ll run you out of Kingman. I really thought we guarded Ottawa pretty well overall, but especially EJ on Sanders. Sanders was still able to put up 25 points, but I felt like we made him earn every one of them.

“We also came into tonight wanting to limit our turnovers. I think we averaged 30 or so in the first three games. We ended up with 18, which is still way too many to be successful against a team like Ottawa, but it still was a step in the right direction for us.

“That third quarter stretch Ottawa speed us up a little offensively, took advantage of it and slowed the game down. It what they do, and they do it well.”

Ottawa is back in action at Kaneland in its Interstate 8 Conference opener on Friday. Sandwich plays Camanche, Iowa on Saturday at the Eastland Shootout in Lanark.