Alex Eisen/MDN Our Redeemer's junior guard William Sanders (1) slips past MLS defender Corbin Hall (left) in a Class B District 12 boys basketball game Thursday evening at ORCS. The Knights won 65-63 in overtime.

Pursuing a perfect 7-0 record against Class B District 12 opponents this regular season, the Our Redeemer’s boys basketball team needed an extra four minutes on Thursday to complete its quest.

The Knights (12-3) submitted its spot at the top of the District 12 standings with a 65-63 overtime win at home over Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood (7-8, 4-3 District 12).

ORCS senior forward Landon Lang drove to the basket and made what turned out to be the game-winning layup with six seconds remaining in overtime.

“It was an exciting game,” Lang said. “We wanted to bounce back from last year, and we did — fifth seed last year, first seed this year. We know it’s just a number, and anything can happen. But, it was our goal to defend our home and play our best ball together as a team.”

ORCS started strong, fueled by two early 3-pointers. The Knights’ largest lead was 12-4 before MLS settled in and fought back.

A buzzer-beating 3-pointer by MLS sophomore guard Joe Savelkoul cut the ORCS advantage to 17-13 after the first eight minutes.

“We weren’t playing as a unit,” ORCS head coach Brody Bosch said. “Our rotations on defense were pretty sloppy.”

The Mavericks went inside to gain the lead early in the second quarter. Once the inside presence was established, MLS unleashed Riley Vendsel.

The senior forward went unconscious from behind the arc with three 3-pointers in the second quarter.

“(Vendsel) always has the green light for us,” MLS head coach Brian Olson said. “We kind of tell him that no shot is a bad shot. He has done that in a couple of different games this year. Teams know he wants to do it too.”

ORCS didn’t receive that memo.

“I guess we didn’t see that on our scouting report,” Bosch said. “(Vendsel’s) stroke looked really good and, after the second one, we were saying we can’t lose him.”

MLS outscored ORCS 26-15 in the second quarter to take a 39-32 lead into halftime. It could have been a double-digit cushion, but ORCS freshman guard Coltan Francis sunk a triple before the buzzer.

The Knights regained the lead at 47-45 in the second half behind the play of Zach Hendrickson. After converting a flashy double-clutch layup, Hendrickson buried a 3-pointer on the following possession.

Hendrickson capped the third quarter with a long jumper just inside the arc, cutting the MLS lead to a single point, 50-49.

Hendrickson and Lang each finished with 18 points. JayDen Hanson also had a game-high 18 points for the Mavericks.

Vendsel, coming off the bench, returned to his second-quarter form. He hit two more 3-pointers and added a block to start the fourth quarter. He finished with 15 points via five 3-pointers.

MLS was up 56-49 with 4:56 left in regulation. But, the Knights weren’t going away.

Three-point plays made by Lang — who missed the free throw, but the Knights got the ball back and Lang scored again on the in-bounds play — and William Sanders evened the score at 60-60.

ORCS got a stop at the other end and the last shot of regulation. Sanders went inside off the dribble, but couldn’t get a kind roll off the rim. Overtime.

“We had to pull through as a team,” Sanders said. “Work hard. Talk on defense, and just play as a team.”

A Hendrickson free throw and layup by Sanders gave the Knights a 63-60 lead with 1:14 left in OT.

Joe Savelkoul came through with the seventh MLS 3-pointer made to tie the score again, 63-63, with 30 seconds left. He finished with 10 points.

ORCS wanted to get the ball to Hendrickson on its final possession. But, staying true to what the Mavericks’ defense had been trying to do all game, Hendrickson was covered up.

“The goal was to run multiple defenders at (Hendrickson) and try to keep the ball out of his hands,” Olson said. “I think that’s what everybody does against him, or that’s what I would do.”

With Hendrickson taken away, Lang saw his opportunity to attack.

“They covered Zach (Hendrickson) pretty well,” Lang said. “So, I made a read, I guess. I split the defense and went to the rim.”

MLS had three seconds left after Lang’s layup fell through. ORCS then gave one of its fouls it had left to give — down to 1.2 seconds.

The Mavericks lofted a sideline in-bounds pass toward the rim, but the catch couldn’t be made.

The Knights escaped 65-63.

“He’s a gamer,” Bosch about Lang. “He does a lot of little things that don’t end up in the newspaper. He is almost averaging a double-double… He’s always the hardest worker at practice, and that shows during games. Even when he isn’t scoring, he is doing a lot for us.”

ORCS will host District 11 foe TGU on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m. MLS travels to Stanley on Monday for 7:15 p.m. tipoff.

Alex Eisen covers Minot State athletics, the Minot Minotauros and high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @AEisen13.