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BROCKTON - Eric Fiedelman hit a free throw with 3.6 seconds remaining as the Acton-Boxboro Regional High boys' basketball team handed Mansfield its first loss of the season, 73-72 in overtime, in the opening round of the Cardinal Spellman Tournament on Thursday afternoon.

The Hornets, who are now 3-1 overall, will face Cardinal Spellman in the consolation game today at 2:45 p.m. Acton-Boxboro will play Medfield in the championship game on Friday. The Warriors defeated the Cardinals, 65-39, in the other first-round matchup on Thursday.

Mansfield held a 16-point advantage in the third quarter, but Acton-Boxboro cut the deficit to nine at 58-49 after three quarters. The Colonials came all the way back in the fourth quarter and forced overtime.

With the score tied at 70-70, Acton-Boxboro hit a pair of free throws to take a 72-70 lead. A layup by Drew Venter, off a steal, tied the contest at 72-72 with 21 seconds left. Fiedelman then hit 1-of-2 from the line a short time later and the Colonials held on from there for the win.

Free throws were also a story of this game as Acton-Boxboro hit 17-of-21 from the line, while Mansfield was just 3-of-16. Andre Tongo led four Colonials in double figures with 19 points. Mike Berlied also contributed 17 points for Acton-Boxboro, while Bret Miller scored 15 and Christian Jordan had 10.

Jim McGrath led four Mansfield players in double figures with 23 points. Venter finished with 11 points, while Adam Contee and J.J. Dingle each had 10 points.

Franklin 70, Attleboro 45

NORTH ATTLEBORO - Matt Palazini scored 16 of his game-high 27 points as the Panthers pulled away from the Bombardiers in the opening game of the North Attleboro Holiday Tournament.

The Bombardiers will play North Attleboro in the consolation game on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

Attleboro (2-1) kept the game close in first half, trailing 30-26 at intermission, but Palazini and his fellow Panthers found the range in the second half, including putting up 22 points in the fourth quarter. Attleboro was able to cut the lead eight points on a couple of occasions but could get no closer.

"He pretty much took over the game," AHS coach Mark Houle said of Palazini.

Macmichel Borgellas led Attleboro with 11 points.

Taunton 58,
North Attleboro 26

NORTH ATTLEBORO - Tyren Heggs scored a game-high 25 points as the Tigers defeated the Rocketeers in the opening round of the North Attleboro Holiday Tournament. Taunton took a 21-9 lead at the half, outscoring the hosts 12-6 in the first quarter and 9-3 in the second. The Tigers took control of the contest by outscoring North 37-17 in the second half.

Greg Dusel led the Rocketeers with seven points. North was without the services of 6-foot-8 senior center Zach Achin, who was ill.

"We had trouble scoring in this game," said North Attleboro head coach Chris Perron. "We could not find the basket."

North Attleboro (1-3) will face Attleboro in the consolation game of the North Attleboro Holiday Tournament on Saturday at 2:30, while Franklin and Taunton will play in the championship game at 4 p.m. on Saturday.

East Providence 65,
Bishop Feehan 52

EAST PROVIDENCE - Frank Robinson scored 17 points and Glen Shelton added 16 as the Townies knocked off the Shamrocks in the second round of the East Providence Invitational.

East Providence built a six-point advantage at the half, 33-27 and then outscored Bishop Feehan 32-25 in the second half for the victory.

"After the second half we had on Wednesday against La Salle, we were not sure how the kids would respond," said Bishop Feehan head coach Matt Freeman. "But the coaches were proud of the effort in this game. They (East Providence) were a little more talented in the end and made some shots, but the effort was there for our team."

Ryan Lee was the high scorer for Bishop Feehan with 18 points. The Shamrocks, who are now 0-5 overall, will host Sandwich in a non-league game on Saturday night at 6:30.

Bellingham 54, King Philip 40

BELLINGHAM - After a strong start, the King Philip boys struggled with their shooting in the second quarter and dug themselves into a hole too deep to escape in the second half, falling to a 14-point defeat to host Bellingham in the opening round of the Bellingham Holiday Tournament.

KP (0-5) will play Blackstone-Millville in the consolation round today at 5.

After taking a 10-7 lead at the end of the first quarter, the Warriors fell prey to a plethora of missed shots and watched the Blackhawks surge into a 26-14 lead in the break. Bellingham only added two points to the lead in the second half, "but by that time, we were still missing too many shots and we couldn't make it up," said KP coach Mike Coppola.

Chris Horne paced the Warriors with 14 points, followed by Jake Cintolo's 10 and Brandon Howard's nine. Howard added a team-high 10 rebounds.

Ryan Ingersoll paced Bellingham with 16 points, including all four of the Hawks' three-pointers.

Foxboro 70, Somerset 68

SOMERSET - Francisco Alicea's put back of an offensive rebound at the buzzer lifted the Warriors to a non-league victory over the Blue Raiders.

The Warriors (2-2) trailed by nine at halftime, but fought their way back. Nick Marcotte led Foxboro with 26 points, including four three-pointers, while Jake Lisowski had 14 and Ali Mourtada chipped in 10. Alicea finished up with eight. The Warriors shot 12-for-16 from the floor in the fourth quarter.

Jake Scott led Somerset (1-4) with 26 points, including five three-pointers, while Bryan Kingsbury had 15.

The Warriors are at Franklin on Jan. 2.