Sooner or later, the closing minutes of a Midwest Collegiate Conference basketball matchup were bound to go Clarke College's way. After battling Mount Mercy and Grand View only to see things falter in the closing minutes of play, a strong finish Wednesday night gave Coach Zareth Gray's Crusaders a 71-68 MCC overtime road win over Viterbo University.

Viterbo (9-20, 3-12 MCC), which posted a 76-47 road win over Clarke on Jan. 21,  led 30-24 at halftime and owned its biggest lead of the game with 7:10 remaining when a Katina Mandylaris jumper put the V-Hawks up by 12, 51-39. But Clarke outscored Viterbo 23-11 in the final seven minutes and a pair of Michelle Jamison gifters with 26 seconds on the clock forced the extra session.

Clarke's Laura Gaylord (Sr., Chicago Ridge, Ill.) opened the overtime frame with a three-point field and the Crusaders never relinquished the lead.

Gaylord led the Crusaders with 18 points, six rebounds and five steals, while Joquetta Rolle (Jr., Cocoa, Fla.) chipped in 14 points and led Clarke to a 48-37 advantage on the boards with 15 rebounds.

Israel Coleman (Fr., Kingwood, Texas) hit four treys for Clarke and finished with 12 points.

Mandylaris led Viterbo with 19 points and 15 rebounds.

Clarke (4-24, 3-12) will wrap up MCC regular-season play at home Saturday, hosting St. Ambrose University at 1 p.m.

-CRUSADERS-