<I>The Eagle/David Heldreth</I><BR>Nyssa's Eric Jensen goes up for a shot as time expires against Grant Union on Feb. 1. The failed shot attempt gave the Pros the win.

JOHN DAY – The Grant Union boys basketball team kept spectators on the edge of their seats Friday night.

The Pros took their Feb. 1 game against Nyssa down to the final seconds before winning 41-40. The Bulldogs led for the majority of the game, but were never able to go ahead by more than five. However, the Pros stepped up their play when it counted. They took their first lead of the game, 32-31, shortly after the start of the fourth quarter.

“We played well against a tough Nyssa team,” Grant Union Coach Brad Smith said. “We played good defense at the end when we had to. It was close.”

The game got even closer as the teams tightened their defense. There were only six points scored in the final five minutes of play. Nyssa’s Eric Jensen hit a shot with four and a half minutes to play to put the Bulldogs up 40-37. Grant Union’s Sam Rawlins’ responded with a layup.

The Pros came away with a loose ball on the next possession, and called timeout to regroup. The ball was passed to Ryne Smith, and he brought it down the floor. Smith hit Austin Ranft with the ball, and he took it baseline for a layup. Ranft led the team with 16 points in the game.

“They gave away the baseline all game,” Ranft said. “I just drove and tried the shot and it went in, luckily. I was nervous in the back of my mind, but I tried not to focus on it.”

Grant Union, leading 41-40 with 3.8 seconds to play, prepared to make their final defensive stand. Nyssa called a timeout to draw up a last second play. Smith called a timeout of his own just as the teams retook the court.

When play finally resumed Cash Wenick was guarding the inbound. The ball came in, but the Bulldogs were unable to get a shot off in time.

“I called that last timeout after I saw what play they were going to try and do,” Smith said. “I put our tallest guy on the passer, and it forced them to take that extra second.”

Friday’s game was almost a mirror image of the last time the two teams played. The Pros beat the Bulldogs 61-59 on Jan. 12. That game came down to the final seconds as well.

“It was just like last game,” Tyler Roberts said. “We came together and pulled through.”

Unfortunately for the Pros, they weren’t able to create a repeat, and lost 51-46 to Vale on Saturday. Vale is currently tied with Burns for first place in the Eastern Oregon League.

The Pros trailed by 10 after the third quarter, but fought back to within two points during the fourth quarter. However, they were unable to close the gap.

“We had our chances to tie or go ahead, but we turned the ball over and missed a few shots,” Smith said. “We had some pretty good looks all night. We just couldn’t find the hole.”

Vale got 30 points from their post player Russell Seals. Roberts and Ranft led the Pros with 14 points each.

Grant Union will travel to face Burns on Thursday, Feb. 7. The Pros will have their senior night at about 7:30 p.m. against Riverside on Tuesday, Feb. 12.