A BIZARRE overtime finish in which London Lituanica ended the game with four players on court overshadowed a 31-point performance from Steven Gayle in Lancashire Spinners victory on Sunday.

The Bury-based side bounced back well after losing 83-71 away to Essex Leopards the previous day.

Lancashire erased a double-digit deficit at Lituanica over two and a half minutes before claiming the overtime win.

With only seven players available, once Ausridas Petraitis, Xabi Enjilo, Tomas Grybauskas and Edvinas Vaupsas had fouled out London was left with only four eligible players at their disposal.

After back-to-back Lituanica three-pointers to start overtime, the visitors outscored their opponents 11-2.

Gayle was clutch down the stretch going 11-of-11 from the free throw line during the last 1mins 37secs and the extra period. He was 15-of-16 from the stripe in the game.

“I’ve never been in a situation like that before,” said Spinners coach Neal Hopkins after London were left short of players in overtime.

“But the most pleasing thing about the day was how Gayle impacted the rest of his team. This is what we need him to do week in and week out.”

The veteran guard hit a three-pointer from the left giving Spinners a 23-22 advantage but Lituanica responded with a three before steadily building a 33-23 lead.

Petraitis scored 22 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for London.

But the Spinners translated 22 turnovers into 18 points and 11 offensive rebounds in 13.

Mark Rangeley failed to convert a driving layup with 15 seconds remaining, which would have given Lancashire a one-point lead, but they pulled out all the stops as chaos reigned in the closing stages.

It was a different story against the Leopards, for who Ladi Brown scored 21 points and 12 rebounds.

William Ashby scored 12 of his 16 points in the first half for the Leopards, who secured consecutive division wins.

Despite trailing by double-digits throughout three quarters, a strong Spinners push early in the fourth cut a 10-point Essex lead to five with 9:11 remaining.

Lancashire, who had won three-straight league games, had a chance to make it a two-possession game but Aitor Estrada’s three-pointer rimmed out and the Leopards went on a 5-2 burst.

Rangeley led the Spinners with 13 points but struggled on 3-for-15 shooting from the floor. Lancashire as a team shot just 36 percent.