ROCHELLE — Nearly everything went against the Hubs varsity basketball team Friday night, but the purple and white somehow found a way to pull off an exciting victory on their home floor against a tough and talented Ottawa Pirates squad.

Behind Myles Tucker and Wyatt Hill, who combined for 30 points in the first half, Ottawa controlled the first two quarters of Northern Illinois Big 12 West action, leading the Hubs 44-35. Rochelle entered Friday’s game without two players (Komla Gati and Noah Knight), and the Hubs lost three more bodies in the second half after Angel Aguirre and Riley Lodico fouled out and Blake Albers exited with an ankle injury.

However, Rochelle managed to persevere through the attrition, tying the game 54-54 after three quarters and outscoring the Pirates 23-16 in the fourth quarter to win by a final score of 77-70. The victory boosts Rochelle to 3-3 overall and 1-0 in NIB-12 West play.

“It was awesome,” said senior Noah Griffith, who led the Hubs with a season-high 15-point performance that included five 3-pointers made. “We came into the locker room knowing that it wasn’t over yet, and we tried to keep our positivity going… Johnny [Beck] was driving into the post to collapse the defense and I was open for the kick-outs. I practice those shots all the time and I had the hot hand tonight.”

Rochelle fell behind early, with Tucker scoring 10 of his game-high 27 points in the first quarter to help Ottawa take a 22-13 lead after the first quarter. Junior Johnny Beck picked up three quick fouls for the Hubs, but Albers came through and patrolled the paint for Rochelle. The senior scored a season-high 13 points in the game before departing due to injury.

“It was just pure guts by the kids,” head coach Tim Thompson said. “They were fantastic sticking in there. They could’ve quit in the first half… It was one of those things where we were thrilled to only be down by nine… Our players made plays in the second half.”

Tucker scored 17 points and Hill added 13 points to ignite the Ottawa offense in the first half, but the two shooters combined for just 14 points in the second half. Meanwhile, Rochelle began mounting its comeback on the defensive end, which led to several transition buckets by players such as Lodico, Aguirre, senior Noah Mershon and sophomore Austin Brown, who all combined for 21 points Friday night.

Rochelle led 62-59 with 4:26 remaining, and as the energy inside the Rochelle Township High School gymnasium intensified, the Hubs began padding their lead. Lodico and Griffith each hit late 3-pointers, while sophomore Seth Gould came through in perhaps the most pivotal moment of the game. With Rochelle up 72-70 with 17.7 seconds to go, Gould caught an inbounds pass more than halfway down the court and finished a layup through contact to reach the free-throw line as the home fans erupted in applause.

“It felt really good,” Gould said. “I was so happy because all I want to do is play varsity basketball… I didn’t know how the pass got there, but I was only focused on making the free throw.”

Gould finished with a season-high eight points, and the sophomore was one of nine Rochelle players to score including junior Greg Ricketts, who put back a missed free throw in the final seconds of the first half for his first bucket of the season. Rochelle will face DeKalb on Saturday, Dec. 9.