As Terrence Bowser's last-second shot tracked toward the basket, A&M Consolidated coach Rusty Segler started to think about what he would tell his players before overtime began.

There was no extra session, however, because Bowser's 28-footer banged off the back rim at the buzzer as Killeen Ellison edged the Tigers 66-63 in a battle of District 13-5A basketball leaders at Tiger Gym on Friday night.

Even if the shot had fallen, the Eagles probably would have come up with a response in overtime. They had an answer for everything the Tigers threw at them.

"I give 100 percent credit to Ellison and coach [David] Manley, because they came into our house and took it," Segler said. "Our guys played their hearts out. We got beat because the other team was better prepared and played harder."

Ellison (18-4, 3-0) seized sole possession of first place. The Eagles have 13-5A road victories over Harker Heights and Consol.

"Any road win in this league is good, but to beat one of the championship contenders on the road is huge," Manley said.

Defending district champion Consol (15-6, 2-1) has dropped consecutive games after winning 10 in a row. The Tigers will play Tuesday against Bryan, which stopped the winning streak in the final of their holiday tournament last week.

"I told our guys that now we have to go steal one on the road to make up for it," Segler said. "We're going to be OK."

The Eagles emerged from Tiger Gym with a road win by playing a solid all-around game. Ellison's balance gave the Consol defense such trouble that Segler made the rare move of switching from his favored man-to-man defense to a zone in the second half.

Ellison grabbed the lead for good in the middle of the second quarter, but the game remained close. During the last 20 minutes, the Eagles couldn't pull away, and the Tigers couldn't get over the hump.

Consol pulled within one point midway through the third quarter, but Ellison answered with six consecutive points. The Tigers crept within two early in the fourth period, but the Eagles scored five in a row.

Guard Timmy Hamilton scored 13 of the Tigers' first 15 points in the final quarter, hitting two huge 3-pointers and making a pretty floater from the lane to trim the deficit to 63-60 with 3 minutes, 5 seconds left.

The Tigers had a chance to tie on their next possession but turned the ball over. Ellison's Jamal Walker then hit Consol with a dagger, making a 3-pointer at the 1:50 mark.

"We hit some big shots when we needed to, and at the end we got a couple of stops that we really needed," Manley said.

Ellison had a chance to bury the Tigers, but Consol forced a turnover and Bowser swished a 23-foot rainbow that closed the gap to 66-63 with 39 seconds left.

The Tigers missed a 3-pointer with 10 seconds left, but the Eagles missed another free throw with 5.3 seconds left. Consol got the ball to Bowser, who was between the Tiger bench and the 3-point line when he launched his bid to tie the game.

"We got a good shot off," Segler said. "It hit the back iron straight on. I was in perfect line with it. The ball was everything but in."

Athletic and intense, Ellison was able to clamp down on every Consol scorer except Hamilton. The 5-foot-8 senior produced 32 points, giving him 114 in his last four games, but no other Tiger scored more than eight. Jay Flowers had nine rebounds and eight points, while Ray Holliday grabbed seven rebounds.

Louis Crane scored 17 points to lead four Eagles in double figures. Ellison was so effective at penetrating the Consol defense that the visitors rarely attempted outside shots, but the Eagles made 5 of 8 treys. The Tigers were 7 of 26 from behind the 3-point line.

Ellison 66, Consol 63

(Numbers indicate field goals, free throws made-attempted, fouls and points)

ELLISON (18-4, 3-0) -- Marquavious James 4 2-2 2 10; Jamal Walker 2 0-0 0 5; Louis Crane 7 1-5 2 17; Zach Mims 1 2-2 0 4; Ivan Delgado 2 2-3 2 6; Chris Harpe 4 2-2 4 10; Ky Deflippo 6 0-0 1 14. Totals: 26 9-14 12 66.

CONSOL (15-6, 2-1) -- Jarvon Searcy 1 0-0 0 2; Timmy Hamilton 11 5-8 1 32; Jay Flowers 4 0-1 2 8; Terrence Bowser 3 1-2 3 8; Ray Holliday 2 2-3 4 6; Xavier Workman 2 0-0 0 5; Kevin Jefferson 0 2-4 1 2. Totals: 22 10-18 11 63.

Ellison 17 19 14 16 -- 66

Consol 17 14 14 18 -- 63

3-point shooting: Ellison 5-8, Consol 7-26.

Rebounds: Ellison 31, Consol 33.

Turnovers: Ellison 10, Consol 11.

JV: Ellison 82, Consol 72. CONSOL -- Tyler Hatch 20, Andrew Fletcher 14, C.J. Anderson 13, Stephen Bryant 13.

Freshman: Ellison 80, Consol 35. CONSOL -- Chris Nutall 12.

Next: Consol vs. Bryan, 8 p.m. Tuesday, Reed Arena.