The Calera Eagles stole one on the road Friday night as Damarcus Dowdell drained a 3-point shot at the buzzer to defeat the Vincent Yellow Jackets 73-71.

From the opening tip, the contest was shaping up to be a fight to the finish between two thoroughbred basketball teams.

Neck and neck, the Eagles and the Jackets came down the final stretch, knotted up at 70-70 with 36.5 second remaining.

After a missed free throw by the Yellow Jackets, the Eagles raced down the court with 5.1 seconds to nail a jumper at the top of the key as the horn sounded.

Despite going 17 for 33 from the free throw stripe, the Eagles managed to get it done when it counted.

&8220;Our kids just made enough plays tonight,&8221; said Calera coach Robert Burdette.

&8220;We were able to make some defensive stops to get the ball back to put ourselves in a position to make those offense plays.

We don&8217;t talk a lot about offense; we talk more about defending and playing with intensity.

Tonight we did that.&8221;

&8220;Vincent has always been a tough place to play and a great basketball environment.

Their kids played really hard,&8221; Burdette added.

Kyle Nichols led the way for the Eagles with 17 points while Brian Watts and Koderius Lacey chipped in 14.

The man of the night, Damarcus Dowdell put up 10 points of his own.

Meanwhile, Cameron Posey led the Yellow Jackets with an impressive 20 point and 10 assist outing.

Josh Kelly contributed 18 points and seven rebounds, Octavious had 15.

&8220;Cameron is a great player for us and a vital part of our offense.

When he is in the game, we are running the floor real well,&8221; Jacket head coach Stacy McGehee said about his junior point guard&8217;s versatile play.

&8220;Calera is a top notch team and that is why they have won championships and make shots like that.

We came up short on a break or two there at the end.

I am ready for the luck to be on our side and win one of these,&8221; McGehee said