The Niles Ring Lardner eighth grade boys’ basketball team was defeated by Discovery Middle School Thursday afternoon in a contest that came down to the final seconds.

The Vikings dropped a heartbreaking 38-36 decision to Discovery.

Niles jumped out to a quick 10-0, but Discovery charged back and took a 19-16 lead into the halftime break.

Again Niles scored the first 10 points of the second half, only to see Discovery erase the deficit. The final quarter saw both teams trade baskets and leads multiple times, but in the end Niles count not convert on a good look in the final seconds and Discovery sent the Vikings to their second loss of the season.

Offensively Trey Kyles was the most consistent Viking scorer as he and Raquon Glenn both finished with 10 points. David Kennedy added six points, while Gabe Stokes and Dalton Raymond finished with four points and Daquon Voight chipped in with two points.

“This is a very frustrating loss for myself and our kids,” Niles coach Mike Gallo said. “Coming off the big win against Benton Harbor the night before we seemed a little emotionally flat. However, we simply fouled them way too much tonight and that cost us the game. We were outscored by 10 points at the free throw line and very few teams can overcome that. I was a little disappointed with our shot selection at times, but their coach did a great job of switching defenses and not allowing us to get into a rythym offensively.

“We learned some valuable lessons from our only other loss, and I’m hoping we learn from our mistakes tonight. I’m pretty confident with this group that they will show up ready to work and get better at practice tomorrow,” he added.

The 5-2 8th Grade Boys will return to action at home on Monday night against Berrien Springs with a scheduled 5 p.m. tip-off.