Montville — Visions of a potential victory danced in coach Jere Quinn's head with St. Thomas More heading to the foul line holding an eight-point lead on Wednesday.

Just over nine minutes remained in the NEPSAC Class AAA tournament quarterfinal.

"We're on the foul line and I'm thinking if we go up 10, we're in pretty good shape," Quinn said.

That never happened.

The fourth-seeded Chancellors missed the front end of one-and-one foul shot.

Fifth-seeded New Hampton surged in front with a 16-2 spurt and never trailed after that, but still needed to hold off a comeback attempt before clinching a 65-60 victory. Walker Miller's inside basket with 1:05 left pushed the visitors ahead for good and New Hampton made four of five free throws to ice the win.

The Chancellors simply lost to a more talented and athletic foe. Kimani Lawrence (Arizona State) finished with a game-high 23 points while Miller (Dartmouth) had 18 and Anthony Gaines (Northwestern) added 15 for New Hampton (22-8).

"You can never complain about our kids for their effort," Quinn said. "Those guys are a big, strong physical team. ... I thought we had the game in pretty good situations. I thought they wore us out a little bit."

St. Thomas More couldn't overcome its mistakes, including 19 turnovers, and a sub-par shooting performance. It also didn't help that Sacred Heart-bound EJ Anosike (seven points, five rebounds) spent long stretches on the bench due to foul trouble.

Tyrei Randall (Rider) was the only Chancellor to score in double figures, finishing with 16 and adding five rebounds. Ty'Jon Gilmore and Maceo Jack each had eight points.

It was a rematch from last week when St. Thomas More pulled out 62-58 win to earn the right to host the quarterfinals.

The game remained tight as neither team led by more than single digits. The Chancellors held a 29-28 edge at the break despite managing just eight field goals. They went 9-for-11 from foul line. If not for the stellar play of Lawrence, who aggressively attacked the basket for 16 first-half points, St. Thomas More would have been in a more comfortable position.

The Chancellors came to offensive life for a brief stretch in the second half. Gilmore's three free throws broke a 37-all tie, starting an 11-3 spurt. Troy Sav's foul line jumper and two free throws increased the lead to 48-40.

The lead didn't last. Lawrence, Gaines and Miller fueled the comeback, combining for 15 points in the 16-2 run to take a 56-50 lead with four minutes left.

St. Thomas More fought to the finish, tying the game at 58-58 on Randall's driving layup with 1:24 remaining. But it would be the Chancellors' last points.

Overall, Quinn was thrilled with the season. The Chancellors started 2-5, gradually improved and always gave maximum effort, finishing 22-10.

"I'm nothing but proud," he said. "These kids 100 percent overachieved this year. It was a wonderful season. ... I have absolutely no complaints. This has been a wonderful group of kids. We said to the kids, 'just make sure you take care of your teammates tonight because we're all disappointed.' "

g.keefe@theday.com