Elk County Catholic had been in that spot before.

With six of the Crusaders’ first 15 games of the season decided by 10 points or fewer, it’s no surprise that Aaron Straub’s squad wasn’t phased as the host Bradford Owls took a one-point lead with less than four minutes to play.

The Crusaders promplty responded with a 3-pointer less than 10 seconds later and went on to score 12 of the game’s next 17 points to pull off a 47-43 D9 League victory on Thursday night to keep its undefeated season intact.

After Caleb Nuzzo hit that shot to put the Owls (8-7, 2-3) ahead 36-35, Elk Catholic’s Carter Lindemuth hit a three on the next possession help his Crusaders (16-0, 6-0) re-take a 38-36 advantage.

And despite some late drama, it was a led that they wouldn’t relinquish.

“I thought we responded very well down the stretch, especially in the last four minutes. You keep living like that, though, and eventually it catches up to you,” Straub said.

After a Leo Gregory shot put ECC up 40-36, the game went scoreless for nearly two minutes before Tyler Gigliotti hit a 3-pointer to pull Bradford back to within three, 42-39 with 1:12 left.

The two teams traded points before Gigliotti hit another 3-pointer with 25 seconds left to pull Bradford to within one.

The Owls just needed a couple of missed free-throws — particularly on the front end of some ECC one-and-one opportunities — but couldn’t get it.

Charlie Briendel went 5-of-6 at the free-throw line down the stretch — the first points that the Crusader sophomore had scored all game — to send ECC to its 40th consecutive regular season victory.

“Charlie’s out there for a reason,” Straub said. “He’s worked really hard at his game and he has a lot of composure and a lot of confidence. When you put in a lot of time and a lot of effort, you should have composure and confidence and he does.”

Down three and with the ball following an inbounds with 20 seconds to go, the Owls did have one final chance to tie the game. But under tight defensive pressure, Gigliotti’s 3-point attempt was off the front rim. Briendel then sank a final free-throw attempt to put the game away.

“Hey, free throws were the difference tonight,” Bradford coach Brian Hobbs said. “They were 13-for-15 and we were (9-of-14).

“When we were up two — I think Peyton Manion hit two free-throws to put us up two (5:27 to play in fourth quarter, 34-32 Bradford lead) — I think if we get a stop or even just don’t give up a three, it plays out a little bit differently. We could slow down a little bit and they wouldn’t have come out and really gotten after it.”

After a sluggish start, it didn’t look as if the Owls would even be hanging around in the fourth quarter. ECC jumped out to a 7-2 advantage and looked like the much better team early. But Bradford scored 11 of the game’s next 15 points to pull ahead for a 13-11 lead after the first eight minutes. From there, the game continued to go back-and-forth, with neither team ever leading by more than four points again.

“I thought (Bradford’s) plan was very good,” Straub said. “They took our high post flash away… I thought defensively they did a great job taking away what we tried to do and fortunately we made a couple shots.”

Mark Kraus led the Crusaders with 15 points — including three 3-pointers — and teammate Regis Wortman was also in double-figures with 11.

Both teams made just 15 shots from the field and shot under 40% in the game, a defensive type of game that Straub was comfortable playing against Bradford.

Gigliotti finished with a game-high 19 points for the Owls, including 11 in the second half, while Steve Knowlton added 13. Knowlton scored the first six points of the game for Bradford.

Still not at 100% with several usual contributors — including Cam Austin — limited with an illness, Hobbs is confident that Thursday’s performance shined a light on what his team could be when fully healthy.

“(Steve’s) really turned the corner here and that’s making the difference,” he said. “We are getting that double-digit scorer outside of (Gigliotti) and (Schmidt) so that really helps.

“But getting healthy is huge for us. We talked about (Gavin Piscitielli), he hits one of those 3’s that he takes if he’s in the flow and same with Cam Austin. When those guys are healthy and we’re playing like we did tonight, I think we’re a pretty good team.”

For the Crusaders — whose last regular season loss came to Bradford in February 2018 — Straub was just pleased to leave McKean County with a win and is already looking forward to his next date with the Owls.

“With Bradford going through the sickness, they really put together a gutty performance,” Straub praised. “It’s going to be a really interesting game when they’re at full strength down at our place.”

The rematch is set for Feb. 11 in St. Marys

AT BRADFORD

Elk Catholic (47)

Mark Kraus 6 0-0 15, Regis Wortman 3 4-4 11, Leo Gregory 2 3-4 7, Lindemuth 2 0-0 5, Breindel 0 5-6 5, Uberti 2 0-0 4 Totals: 15 13-14 47

Bradford (43)

Tyler Gigliotti 5 6-7 19, Steven Knowlton 6 0-0 13, Manion 1 2-2 4, Nuzzo 2 0-3 4, Austin 1 0-0 2, Schmidt 0 1-2 1 Totals: 15 9-14 43

ECC 11 18 31 47

Bradford 13 18 32 43

Three-point goals: ECC 4 (Gregory 3, Lindemuth 1), Bradford 4 (Gigliotti 3, Knowlton 1); Total fouls: ECC 11, Bradford 15; fouled out: None

JV: no game

Freshman: ECC 35, Bradford 25

Owls: Lucas Johnson (7), Troy Adkins (7), Nate Girdlestone (6)

ECC: Joe Tettis (14)