Adding another thrilling chapter to an always-exciting rivalry, Kaimuki saw its 13-point second-half lead disintegrate last night and then rallied from a five-point deficit in overtime to defeat Moanalua, 69-65, in O'ahu Interscholastic Association boys basketball action.

The Bulldogs improved to 6-4 in league play and solidified its third-place position in the OIA's Red Conference Eastern Division. The defending league champion Na Menehune fell to 3-5 and into a fifth-place tie with Kalani (3-5).

Kaimuki junior guard Mason Kuali'i-Moe scored a team-high 22 points, including two free throws with 8.7 seconds remaining to help seal the road victory.

Four of Moanalua's five losses have come by four points or less, including a 48-45 defeat at Kaimuki on Dec. 13.

"We're running out of time to figure things out," said Na Menehune coach Greg Tacon, noting they have four games left in the regular season. Only the top five teams in each division qualify for the OIA playoffs.

Moanalua looked to be in good shape early on last night, taking a 12-6 lead into the second period. But Dio Taulung swished two 3-pointers and Kuali'i-Moe added another as the Bulldogs began the quarter with an 11-0 run.

Na Menehune closed it to 22-19 on Wesley Armbrust's 3-pointer two seconds before halftime, but fell behind 36-23 after Kuali'i-Moe's high-arching bank shot with 5:18 left in the third quarter.

Moanalua cut it to 41-33 on Dexter Williams' baseline jumper with 20 seconds remaining in the period, and eventually tied it at 49-49 after two free throws by Aaron Davis with 3:10 left in regulation. Na Menehune even took a 55-51 lead two minutes later after back-to-back layups by Williams, but Taulung drained a 3-pointer from the left corner with 16 seconds remaining to send it into OT tied at 56.

"We could have easily put our heads down (after blowing the 13-point lead), but we didn't," Kaimuki coach Kelly Grant said.

Moanalua surged ahead again in overtime, taking a 63-58 lead after Rich Villasenor's two free throws with 2:52 left. But Taulung tied it again 30 seconds later on another 3-pointer from the same spot on the left corner.

The Bulldogs then took the lead for good at 65-63 on a layup by Chester Su'a with 1:33 remaining, then widened it to 67-63 on Kuali'i-Moe's two free throws with 28 seconds left. Na Menehune cut it to 67-65 on Keven Amaral's layup with 11.3 ticks remaining, but Kuali'i-Moe sank two more free throws three seconds later and Moanalua could not convert on the other end.

"I'm extremely proud of our guys for chipping away and coming back the way they did, but we had a terrible start to the second half and we made some bad decisions near the basket when we had the lead late," Tacon said. "We're going to keep trying to figure this thing out."

Dio Taulung finished with 15 points -- including four 3-pointers -- Tevin Nishiyama contributed 11 points (all after halftime) and Su'a chipped in with 10 more points.

Williams led all scorers with 27 points, Armbrust added 16 points and Amaral contributed 11 points.

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