An eight-point third-quarter lead for DeKalb was down to two in the final two minutes of the third-place game of the 98th annual Chuck Dayton Classic against United Township on Tuesday.

And with the Panthers pressing, trying to make something happen, Bryan Miller made sure the Barbs stayed in control for a 61-53 victory to take third after winning the tournament in 2023 and 2024.

“It most definitely does feel good,” Miller said. “And with those guys on my team, I know it’s a lot of support. I know I can attack the rim, shoot the ball, make plays for other guys and put them in great situations.”

The Panthers (9-5) trailed 51-49 after Tyler Horvath made one of his two free-throw attempts with 2:06 left.

Miller, who was generally speeding past the backcourt pressure when the Panthers were applying it, instead found Aaron Ziga in the lane, connecting with him for a layup with 1:48 left.

Jack Rosenow made sure the Barbs stayed in control with a steal, but the Panthers got a stop and layup to cut the lead to 53-51 with 1:26 left.

Miller wasted little time answering, going coast-to-coast for a layup. The Barbs (6-6) forced a miss by the Panthers and Derrion Straughter came away with his seventh rebound of the game.

The Panthers only had one team foul to that point, so by the time they sent Myles Newman to the line, there were 39.8 seconds left. Newman made both to push the lead to 57-51.

“We played hard, had a lot of grit,” Miller said. “We were on the floor, getting a lot of rebounds. Body on body, flesh on flesh. We have a good group and as long as we keep working hard, we’re going to make it.”

The lead changed hands six times in the first half and there were three ties, but DeKalb led the entirety of the second half.

The Barbs built a 15-4 lead in the first quarter behind five 3-pointers, including two each from Newman and Ziga.

“The defensive energy definitely picked up our offensive energy,” said Ziga, who was 3-for-4 on 3-pointers, had three assists and a game-high 20 points. “That just kind of carried over and we kept building off of that.”

The Panthers scored 12 straight to lead 16-15 early in the second. Their last lead came on a 3-pointer by Octavius Hickman with 4:41 left in the first half to go up 23-22, but they only scored two more points and trailed 33-25 at the break.

The two teams played back on Dec. 13, with DeKalb winning 38-32. Jayvon McDowell hit a free throw with 4:15 left in the third quarter Tuesday to match that score.

“I feel a couple weeks ago we weren’t working as hard,” Miller said. “I feel like the younger guys brought that energy and the older guys, we led the team in what we needed to do.”

Miller shot 6-for-8 from the floor, made his only 3-point attempt and had five assists to only two turnovers.

DeKalb coach Mike Reynolds said Miller, like most of the team, is starting to develop more confidence as he gets more playing time.

“He plays harder than almost any player we play against,” Reynolds said. “He’s just making deflections, making plays, he had 12 rebounds the other night. Juju [assistant coach Julian McElroy] keeps telling him make one hard move and go.”

Octavius Hickman led the Panthers with 18 points, with Horvath adding 13 and McDowell 10. Tucker Speckman led the team with six rebounds.

Newman, who along with Straughter was named to the all-tournament team, finished with 17 points. He made four of his eight 3-point attempts.

The Barbs were coming off a heartbreaker to Hononegah in the semifinals on Monday night, leading throughout regulation until a buzzer-beating 3-pointer sent the game into overtime. The Indians went on to win 56-52, then dropped the championship game to Neuqua Valley, 76-45.

“Obviously, we should have been playing right now,” Ziga said, referring to the championship game. “Unfortunately, we’re not. But next year, we’re definitely going to be in there.”

And while the Barbs failed to capture their 11th Dayton title, they have five new starters from last year’s team and lost 98% of their production from last year.

Reynolds agreed with Ziga that he felt the Barbs should have been playing for the title after letting the game against Hononegah slip away. But he said DeKalb needs to be the hardest working team on the court every game, and for the last two nights that’s what they’ve done.

“I’m as proud of this group as I’ve been of any group, ever in I don’t know how many years I’ve been coaching,” Reynolds said. “But I’m proud of them. They’ve taken coaching, they continue to get better.”