Montville — Tim Strong, head coach of the Montville High School boys’ basketball team, noticed before Friday’s game that Lyman Memorial junior Dylan Lucey was hitting 3-pointers at a nice clip.

Lucey made just one during the game, but he made it hurt. Lucey hit the shot at the buzzer to give Montville its first loss of the season, 39-36, and prevent the Indians from clinching the Eastern Connecticut Conference Division IV title.

Lucey was scoreless at halftime.

“The first half was rough,” Lucey said. “I just had to keep my cool, and I just thought why not have composure and just hit (the 3-pointer).”

Strong said, “Bernard (Hawkins), our best guard defender, was guarding Dylan. He had four fouls and we were over the limit. You can’t foul and I didn’t want to double (Lucey) because I didn’t want to give up an open layup. He just hit his shot. It was a good shot; a tough shot.”

The Indians (9-1, 5-1) and Lyman (7-5, 5-1) are now tied for the Division IV title with two division games left to play. Should they finish tied, then their winning percentage against three common opponents from the league-generated schedule will be used as a tiebreaker. Those three games are against Killingly, Plainfield and Windham.

Montville has played one of those games, a 58-52 win over Windham. Lyman hasn’t played its three league-generated games yet.

Senior Zach Dunnack and Lucey both scored 10 for the Bulldogs.

Senior Eddie Reyes led the Indians with 14 points. They trailed 28-20 after three quarters.

“We did a good job (defensively),” Strong said. “We just couldn’t get the ball in the basket. We missed a lot of layups.”

Montville had a chance to take the game’s final shot but instead attacked with time remaining.

“We probably attacked a little too early,” Strong said. “We left 5.9 seconds on the clock.”

That set up the game-winner for Lucey, who made his shot from the top of the key. He missed the first game against Montville to open the season, a 65-54 home loss on Dec. 19, with an injury.

“We were supposed to go (with a) pick up top, so I flared off the screen and just went one-on-one (with my defender),” Lucey said. “I knew he was going to let me shoot, so I hesitated, then I pulled up and hit it.

"It meant a lot to me to come back and try to help my teammates take a 'dub.' Especially for the division (title) and (because) their undefeated. It feels so great."