MAHANOY CITY - The Marian boys basketball team ran out of "fantastic finishes" Tuesday evening.

Fortunately, it didn't put a crimp in its Schuylkill Boys Basketball League Division 3 claim - but it might have bruised its ego.Losing to one of its most bitter rivals, Mahanoy Area, 53-52, the Colts could not come up with another herculean effort in the closing seconds; something they had a penchant for doing over the past two weeks.It was the Golden Bears who kept digging and busting to find a solution on how to check off the big inside attack of Brandon Mohammad and Ryan Karchner, a tandem that combined for 23 of Marian's 44 rebounds, 17 of those from the 6-5 Mohammad, who also dumped in a team-high 15 points."We just got a lot of backside help," said Mahanoy Area coach Ethan Eichhorst, whose team snapped Marian's eight-game winning streak. "Those two guys are so tough to defend, so we needed to get as much help as possible. We (sloughed) off quite a bit for help, and that was a big factor in the way we played down the stretch."No one was more inducing than Mahanoy's Mike Joseph. The 5-8 senior guard poured in six of his game-high 17 points in the final quarter, including the deciding deuce on a runner in the lane with 30 seconds to play that sealed the deal."He is so darn tough to defend," said Mike Brennan, who sat in for head coach John Patton, who is away from the team until Friday. "We tried a number of things on him, but he kept finding ways to get loose."It was a sweet win for the Bears (12-9; 7-5), who nearly pulled off a major coup in the first meeting between the two teams last month."Yeah, we had a big battle the last time, and sure it's nice to get the win here," said Eichhorst. "We just wanted to win, and now we've got one more game, and then we'll get ready for districts."The Colts (18-3; 11-1) had plenty of chances to stow the win away, when they sauntered off with a 14-8 lead in the first quarter. Marian trailed 8-7 before Mohammad nailed a bucket in the paint, Karchner kissed a deuce off the glass, and Mohammad finished off a three-point play to take the lead.The Bears answered to open the second period and seized a 19-16 lead on the outside shooting of Justin Rivera, who drilled two treys. Marian rallied just before the close of the period when freshman guard Tyler Fritz drained a pair of fielders, one a top of the key triple. But Mahanoy took a 28-26 lead at the break on baskets by Rivera and Joseph.Marian lurched to a 32-28 advantage on Jarod Paisley's triple early in the second half, but the Bears did their damage thanks to rising 6-3 frosh Shane Miller, who stuck in two triples for a 43-41 lead after the third period.Late in the fourth, Marian seemed on track for another victory when it took a 48-47 lead on Paisley's inside basket. Again, Mahanoy answered off a Randy Derr deuce and Joseph broke free for an easy layup and a 51-48 lead. But the Colts came back for a 52-51 lead with 44 seconds to play after baskets by Paisley and Mohammad.Joseph, however, pulled off a fantastic finish for the Bears, going straight at the strength of Marian's defense and lifting the floater for what would be the game-winning basket.TOUGH LOSS... A late loss could hurt Marian's momentum heading into the league playoffs, where they'll meet either Blue Mountain or Pottsville next week.OFF THE GLASS... The Colts dominated on the boards 44-28; but shot 18-51 from the floor, while Mahanoy went 20-48 from the floor.MARIANMohammad 4-7-11-15, Fritz 4-0-0-10, Paisley 5-3-4-14, Mummey 2-0-0-4, Karchner 2-0-0-4, Collevichio 1-1-2-3, Stauffer 1-0-0-2. TOTALS: 19-11-17-52.MAHANOY AREAJoesph 7-2-3-17, Miller 5-1-2-14, Rivera 4-3-3-14, R. Derr 2-0-0-4, M. Derr 2-0-0-4, Atkins 0-0-0-0, Marcellus 0-0-0-0, McGee 0-0-0-0, Fedor 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 20-6-7-53.Marian 14 12 15 11 - 52Mahanoy A. 8 20 15 9 - 53Three-pointers: Marian - Fritz 2, Paisley 1; MA - Miller 3, Rivera 2.