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EDWARDSBURG — Visiting Brandywine let a 19-point halftime lead get away from it in the fourth quarter, but knocked down a pair of free throws in the final seconds to edge Edwardsburg 55-53 in non-conference boys basketball action Tuesday night.

Brandywine Coach Nathan Knapp’s Bobcats set the tempo early and found open shots on the perimeter while feeding each other the ball under the hoop. The twin tandem of Jaremiah Palmer and Jamier Palmer was productive for the Bobcats, scoring 25 and 15 points, respectively.

By halftime, Brandywine (19-2) led Edwardsburg 38-19, its biggest lead of the night.

But the Eddies were far from finished. Seniors Mason Crist and Owen Eberlein stepped up in the third quarter and the Eddies found their groove. Sophomore Brody Schimpa also got into the act, hitting a couple of 3-pointers, with Crist adding another.

After a technical foul against the Brandywine bench, the Bobcats’ lead had been cut to six. Eddies’ guard Annon Billingsley fed Eberlein a pass under the basket to start the fourth. The Edwardsburg defense tightened up and after 3-pointers from Schimpa and Crist, the feeling became that whoever had the ball at the end might win.

Tied at 53-53 with 1.9 seconds remaining in the game, Jaremiah Palmer was fouled. The Brandywine junior stepped up to the free throw line and hit both ends of a one-and-one giving the Bobcats the win.

Edwardsburg (12-7) was unable to answer, and the Bobcats secured their 19th win of the season.

“We set some goals tonight, and we tried to meet them,” said Eddies Coach Steve Wright after the game. “It is what it is. That’s not to take anything away from Brandywine. They played well.”

Crist led Edwardsburg with 18 points and Eberlein and Scrimpa scored 11 apiece while Matt Anders added nine.