It was the type of victory that could kickstart a Jim Thorpe second-half run.

The Olympians pulled out a 66-60 double overtime victory over rival Marian on Monday that pushed them above .500 on the season.

Jim Thorpe earned the victory with some clutch defensive play down the stretch in both regulation and overtime.

Surely, the Marian game plan was to put the rock in the hands of the team’s best player, Tyler Fritz.

Colt coach John Patton wasn’t hiding any corporate trade secrets in the final minutes after he watched Jim Thorpe forge a 56-56 tie on the strength of a three-point shot from the hand of unsung hero Adam Lauer.

Marian decided to hold for a final shot, but just couldn’t pull the trigger thanks to strong defense by the Olympians. Despite two timeouts from the Colts – 1:09 and 0:48 — they couldn’t get Fritz free to attempt a game-winning shot.

Jim Thorpe coach Jason McElmoyle had his two best defenders, Roberto Santiago and Tyler Burak, checking Fritz as part of a box-and-one defense.

“Both of those players were outstanding in keeping him from getting free,” said McElmoyle. “He’s so darn good, even with our defensive pressure, we still needed help.”

One thing is for certain: the Olympians came up big in the second four-minute overtime, turning to the athletic 6-5 Nate Rosahac who drained four straight one-on-one free throws to eventually seal the victory.

Rosahac, who finished with 14 points, was one of four Olympians in double-digits. James Adames led the way with 17 points, sophomore guard Caiden Hurley dropped in 15, and Lauer added 13.

Marian couldn’t overcome that balance despite another sensational outing from Tyler Fritz, who scored 24 points. The Colts also got double figure production from Brandon Sabulsky (14) and freshman Logan Fritz (13), the brother of Tyler.

“Twice we had the ball, but we just didn’t convert,” said Patton about his team coming up empty in regulation play and in the first overtime. “It’s another one that got away. Not saying we should have won, but we could’ve won.”

Thorpe was near perfect in the second overtime. The defense forced Marian into rushed shots and three turnovers. The Olympians then cashed in on the offensive end as Zach Searfoss drained a shot to put his team on top 60-58. Lauer then drove through the Marian defense for another goal and a 62-58 lead with 1:49 remaining.

Still, there was a last answer on the Colts’ side when Tyler Fritz sank two free throws, but Rosahac started to feel his oats with his big frame and soft foul shooting touch to seal the win.

“I thought our guys played hard all night and came up with the little plays when it mattered,” said McElmoyle. “Where I thought we came up big in the second half was identifying (their) shooters a little better.”

NEARING MILESTONE ... Tyler Fritz inches closer to 1,000-career point mark. He is now just 14 points away.

SHOOTING STARS

… Both sides were nearly identical in shooting; the Olympians were 22-for-47 and the Colts 23-for-48.

CLEANING GLASS

… Marian had the edge in rebounding (30-27) with Tyler Fritz snaring eight. Thorpe was led by Rosahac’s 13.

SPLITSVILLE

… Marian won the opener 48-32 behind Chris Latoff’’s points with 15 points, 12 from Zack Hnat and 10 from Julian Cerullo. Jordan Burr scored seven to lead Jim Thorpe.

JIM THORPE

Adams 7-2-2-17, Hurley 4-4-4-15, Rosahac 3-8-12-14, Adams 5-1-1-13, Searfoss 2-0-2-4, Burak 1-0-0-3, Santiago 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 22-15-21-66.

MARIAN

T. Fritz 7-9-11 24, Sabulsky 7-0-0-14, L. Fritz 4-1-2-13, Agosti 1-0-0-3, Goff 1-0-0-2, Malarkey 1-0-0-2, Ritsick 1-0-0-2, McCall 0-0-0-0, Hnat 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 22-10-13-60.

Jim Thorpe 12 15 20 9 2 8 – 66

Marian 12 22 14 8 2 2 – 60

Three-pointers: JT - Adams 2, Hurley 3, Adams 2, Burak. M – T. Fritz, L. Fritz 4, Agosti.