BUTLER TWP — The overtime period began just as Butler County Community College men’s basketball coach Dick Hartung hoped it would: with a quick basket.

With the score tied at 68, Jordan Taylor’s layup four seconds into the extra period gave the Pioneers the lead for good in an 85-75 win over West Virginia Northern Thursday night.

In the night’s first game, the Pioneers women dropped a 69-56 decision to Mercyhurst-North East.

“The team that scores first wins the vast majority of overtime games,” said Hartung. “We felt confident we could win the tip and we did, got the ball to (Antawane) Davis and he made the pass to Taylor.”

Stephen Carter followed up with a basket of his own as BC3 took a 72-68 lead.

West Virginia Northern kept it close for much of overtime, and when Phil McLaughlin’s basket fell with 1:21 left, the Pioneer lead was just 79-75.

But the Thundering Chickens (3-5) didn’t score again, and Taylor and Carter hit late free throws for the Pioneers.

“Those were critical free throws, and we had some critical turnovers,” said West Virginia Northern coach Joe Touvell. “But BC3 is a good team. They shot the ball well.”

The Pioneers prevailed despite the fact that guards Blake Anderson and Corey Miller fouled out in the closing minutes of regulation.

BC3 held a 68-64 lead with under a minute left in the second half, but Brandon Creighton scored a pair of field goals to tie the score for the Chickens.

BC3 had a chance to avoid overtime, but Taylor’s 3-point attempt as time expired didn’t fall.

The Pioneers (2-4) had four players score in double figures: Davis and Taylor each scored 19, Anderson tallied 15 points and Ben Peterson managed 11.

Taylor contributed 10 assists, Anderson had nine assists and eight rebounds, and Carter had 14 boards.

BC3 outrebounded the Chickens 61-45, including a 9 to 3 edge in overtime.

“Normally, our biggest weakness is rebounding,” said Hartung. “The team that holds the high ground usually wins, and, tonight, we did a good job on the boards.”

Women Mercyhurst-NE 69, Butler CCC 56

The Pioneers (1-3) were done in at the free throw line.

Despite not making a second-half field goal until Kelsey Sullivan’s 3-pointer with 11:12 left in the game, the Saints kept BC3 at bay with foul shooting.

Mercyhurst’s first 10 field goal attempts after halftime were off the mark, but the team made 9 of its 10 shots from the line in that span.

For the game, the Saints were 27-of-36 for 75 percent from the line while the Pioneers were just 8-of-15.

“That broke our backs,” said Hartung. “(Mercyhurst) was just too athletic for us. They got us off-balance to the point where we had to foul.”

Emily Wise pulled BC3 to within 53-51 with 6:16 left in the game, but the Saints outscored the Pioneers 16-5 the rest of the way.

The Saints (3-3) played the game with just five players.

“We’ve had a few injuries and a couple other girls are ineligible,” said Saints coach Dave Mencer.

Ashley Campbell paced BC3 with 19 points and Katresa Savisky had 10 points before fouling out in the second half.

Men’s BoxscoreWEST VIRGINIA NORTHERN 75Phil McLaughlin 8 2-2 18, Brandon Creighton 7 2-7 19, Antaun Murphy 3 8-15 14, Caleb Bell 8 2-4 20, Frank Maltese 1 2-2 4, Scott Pitts 0 0-0 0, Devon Mayfield 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 27 16-30 75.

BUTLER CCC 85Jordan Taylor 6 4-4 19, Blake Anderson 5 2-2 15, Antawane Davis 8 1-3 19, Ben Peterson 4 3-4 11, Corey Miller 3 0-2 6, Stephen Carter 3 3-6 9, Cody Morgan 2 0-0 6, Kaylon Smith 0 0-0 0, Kendrick Payno 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 31 13-21 85.

Halftime score: BC3 led 34-26

3-point goals: West Virginia Northern 5 (Creighton 3, Bell 2); BC3 10 (Taylor 3, Anderson 3, Davis 2, Morgan 2).

Women’s BoxscoreMERCYHURST-NORTH EAST 69Kelsey Sullivan 2 2-2 8, Dierica Blackwell 5 11-12 21, Darnesha Tomlinson 5 4-6 14, Sharika McGill 3 2-5 8, Kaveeda Myers 5 8-11 18.

Totals: 20 27-36 69.

BUTLER CCC 56Sarah Beals 1 0-0 2, Ashley Campbell 8 3-6 19, Rachel Doutt 3 3-5 9, Casey Fleeger 2 2-2 7, Samantha Longstreth 1 0-0 2, Katresa Savisky 4 0-0 10, Emily Wise 3 0-0 7, Erica Schultheis 0 0-2 0, Jamie Antoszyk 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 22 8-15 56.

Halftime score: Mercyhurst-NE led 34-28

3-point goals: Mercyhurst-NE 2 (Sullivan 2); BC3 4 (Savisky 2, Fleeger, Wise).