YAKIMA — The Tigers weren't shooting well. They trailed by three heading into the fourth quarter. It was their third Central Washington Athletic Conference game in five days.

None of that mattered. Because ...

Benson Bair scored eight of his 16 points in the final period and OT. Cooper Black ran the show with 11 assists and five steals. Together, they led Ephrata to a gritty 57-54 overtime win at East Valley Tuesday night.

"We haven't shot it real well from deep at all this season," Ephrata head coach Rick Walter said afterward. "(But) our bigs did a great job and our wings dove to the rim when Cooper and others attacked and they finished well."

Black tallied only two points in the contest. But Walter said the senior guard had an amazing game, both in guiding the offense – "He controlled the game with great tempo and didn't let their pressure bother him" – and playing disruptive defense.

Walter described Black's leadership as "quiet but irreplaceable" and called him one of the best defenders in the CWAC.

"A lot of times, players think they can overpower him because of his size (5-foot-8), but they quickly realize he's stronger than they think and has extremely quick hands," said the Tiger coach.

Ephrata jumped out early after Brady Hendrick hit the first of four team three pointers, sparking a 10-2 run. But East Valley answered with a trio of threes in the second quarter to grab the lead, and the Red Devils were up 39-36 at the end of the third period.

That's when Bair caught fire. With assists from Hendrick, the 6-foot-5 junior post hit back-to-back buckets to tie the score at 44, then delivered the go-ahead basket off a Mitch Morford pass in overtime, giving Ephrata a 54-52 lead. Free throws from Levi Wilson, Cody Ogle, and Wyatt Schluckebier iced the game in overtime.

And OT belonged to the Tiger bigs. During the extra period, Hendrick grabbed a defensive rebound to spark a fast break, then scored in the paint and drew a charge to give the Tigers another possession. Morford followed with an offensive putback, then took a charge of his own before assisting on Bair’s go-ahead bucket. For the evening, Morford did the dirty work underneath, pulling down 11 rebounds, including seven off the offensive glass.

Ogle finished with 12 points, and Hendrick added 11 points and seven boards. Jose Barrita energized the Tigers' bench with a third-quarter three-ball that put them back in front.

The win was pretty; the numbers not so much – Ephrata shot 25-of-70 (36%) from the field and just 19% from beyond the arc. But the Tigers outrebounded East Valley 37-30 and took care of the ball, committing only 12 team turnovers.

Jeramy Garcia led East Valley scorers with 27 points.

The Tigers (3-8, 2-5 CWAC) are back on Marty O’Brien Court this Friday, Jan. 10, tipping off against Toppenish at 7 p.m.

CWAC Scoreboard: Tuesday, Jan. 6: Selah 77, Prosser 39 | Othello 75, Ellensburg 71 | Quincy 47, Toppenish 70 | Ephrata 57, East Valley 54