CASSOPOLIS — A furious fourth quarter rally came up a bit short Friday night for the Brandywine boys basketball team.

The visiting Bobcats erased an 11-point Cassopolis lead in the fourth quarter before falling to the Rangers 48-45 in a Lakeland Conference thriller.

Missed free throws and turnovers doomed Brandywine in the final analysis.

The Bobcats turned the ball over 32 times against Cassopolis and was just 10-of-19 at the charity stripe. Brandywine shot all but two of its free throws in the fourth quarter.

“Turnovers hurt us more than anything,” Brandywine coach Nathan Knapp said. “Like I told the kids, this is the first time all season that we actually showed a little bit of character. When things were going bad we didn’t roll over and quit. We just kept working and trying to find a way to get back in the game.”

The Bobcats came back and tied the score with 45 ticks left on the fourth quarter clock when Michael Shelton canned a pair of free throws to tie the score at 45-45.

On its next possession, the Rangers were fouled by Brandywine, sending Vashaun Morgan to the line with 34 seconds left.

Morgan hit one of two free throw to give Cassopolis the lead back, 46-45. After another Brandywine foul, Tyler Gilliam would connect on one-of-two shots from the foul line to extend the lead to 47-45 with 24.5 showing on the clock.

The Bobcats would get three shots at the basket in the final 30 seconds as they tried to get back over the .500 mark.

A shot with 14 seconds was blocked by Gilliam, although the Brandywine bench wanted a foul called on the play.

Dwayne Morgan grabbed the blocked shot and was immediately fouled with 13.8 seconds remaining. He too, hit just one of his two foul shots, but it gave the Rangers a 48-45 lead.

Brandywine’s Austin Searles and Pierce Gleason both attempted 3-point shots in the closing seconds, but could not connect.

The Bobcats were good out of the gate Friday night, grabbing a 10-6 first quarter lead.

But in the middle two quarters, it was all Cassopolis.

The Rangers were able to built a 19-15 halftime advantage and led 31-24 heading to the final quarter.

Cassopolis’ lead reached 11 points before Knapp called a time out with 5:56 left in the game and challenged his squad to get back into the game.

“I just told them they had five minutes, there is no tomorrow,” he said. “I don’t know what you are waiting for.”

Damion Brown led Cassopolis and all scorers with 15 points. Kenneth Carson added 10.

Mykal Toxopeus led Brandywine with 13 points. Michael Shelton finished with 10. Michael Schoenleber and Alex Erwin both had eight points. Erwin also had 13 rebounds, three assists and three steals.

BRANDYWINE 45

Michael Shelton 2 4-6 9; Courtlan Gordon 0 0-0 0; Austin Searles 1 0-0 2; Michael Schoenleber 2 2-2 8; Alex Ulrickson 0 0-0 0; Brian Kline 0 0-0 0; Pierce Gleason 2 1-3 5; Mykal Toxopeus 5 1-3 13; Alex Erwin 3 2-5 8; Evan Hartman 0 0-0 0; Alex Brooks 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 15 10-19 45

CASSOPOLIS 48

Mitchell Moore 0 2-4 2; Dwayne Morgan 1 2-4 4; Tyler Gilliam 3 1-2 9; Kenneth Carson 4 2-7 10; Taylor Baker 0 0-0 0; Damion Brown 5 8-5 15; Justin Smith 0 0-0; William Wallace 0 0-0 0; Vashaun Morgan 3 2-4 8; Ryan Hawkins 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 16 14-29 48

Brandywine 10 15 24 45

Cassopolis 6 19 31 48

3-point baskets: Brandywine 5 (Shelton, Schoenleber 2, Toxopeus 2), Cassopolis 2 (Gilliam 2). Total fouls (fouled out): Brandywine 19 (none), Cassopolis 18 (none). Varsity records: Brandywine 5-6, 1-5 Lakeland; Cassopolis 6-7, 2-5 Lakeland