Al Sowers hit a three-pointer to give Coast Guard a 71-69 lead with 3:40 left in overtime after the teams were tied 68-68 at the end of regulation.
Brian Zukowski’s three-point play gave the Lyons the lead 72-71 with 2:49 left before Sowers gave Coast Guard the lead for good at 73-72 on a bucket with 1:07 left.
Grant Johnson made a pair of free throws as Coast Guard extended its lead to 75-72 with 25.5 seconds left.
Wheaton’s Josean Vega missed a three-pointer to tie the game and Jeff Prebeck was fouled with 9.9 seconds left. Prebeck made the first of two free throws and Coast Guard led 76-72. Vega hit a three-pointer with 3.1 seconds left to pull to within 76-75, but Coast Guard’s Dan Sheppard ended the game with a dunk with 0.1 seconds left as the Bears held on for the win, their third straight and fifth in the last six games.
In regulation, Wheaton (15-8, 6-5) had taken a 68-66 lead with 1:36 following a three-point play with Zukowski, who finished with 15 points.
Coast Guard started off fast and led 7-0 and 15-8 before using a 10-2 run for its biggest lead of the night at 25-10 with 8:27 left in the first half.
Wheaton responded later with a 14-1 spurt turning a 32-23 deficit into a 37-33 lead with 1:06 left. The Lyons led 37-35 at halftime.
Coast Guard led 64-56 with 4:28 left when Wheaton led by Mike Stanton used a 9-0 run to take the lead. Stanton became the ninth Wheaton player to register his 1,000th career point in the game, as he did so on a driving layup with 4:19 left in regulation, he was fouled and converted the foul shot for his 1,001st point, which cut the Coast Guard lead to 64-59. Stanton later gave Wheaton a 65-64 lead on another three-point play with 2:25 left which ended the 9-0 run.
Prebeck led Coast Guard (13-9, 5-6) with 20 points and 11 rebounds while Al Sowers added 18 points. Craig Johnson had 14 points and 10 rebounds while Ryan Ball had 11 points and Dan Sheppard added 10 rebounds as the Bears outrebounded the Lyons 45-30.
Vega led all scorers with 24 points for Wheaton while Stanton finished with 13 giving him 1,004 career points.