All season, Freedom's boys' basketball team has had their share of close games. In fact, they lost six games by seven points or less while winning their share of tight games.

In their opening round PIAA state playoff game at Allen Saturday afternoon, the Patriots fell on the short end of the equation when they suffered a 47-45 last-second defeat to Upper Darby, ruining their chances to win a state tournament game for the first time in 31 years.

Upper Darby's Quadir Rice grabbed a rebound from a missed three-pointer and put back the game winner in the final second to send his club to the second round of the PIAA tournament Wednesday night.

Freedom, which ended its season with a 17-10 overall record, didn't show any signs from a 65-50 defeat from Parkland a week earlier in the District 11 Class AAAA championship game. But the Patriots didn't have quite enough to turn the corner. Freedom had won five of its last regular season games to begin their postseason play.

Upper Darby (19-9) entered the game as the sixth seed out of District One.

"We didn't seem to play with a sense of urgency," said head coach Joe Stellato. "It was unfortunate for us. We didn't do what we needed to do against a team that we were better than."

Freedom's Nigel Long tied the game at 45-45 with 14 seconds left when he converted a three-point play from a drive down the lane and foul. Upper Darby's James Fisher missed a three-point attempt with three seconds remaining, and Rice grabbed the rebound and sank a jumper in the lane for the game-winner.

Heading into the final quarter, Freedom had a 38-31 lead, but they began to struggle against Upper Dabry's 1-3-1 zone that had them stymied most of the game. They had trailed late in the third quarter, but Freedom responded with a late 8-0 run in the final three minutes to take the lead.

Both teams played a tightly contested first half in which Freedom held a slim 24-22 advantage at halftime.

Freedom's Nyreef Jackson, the team's leading scorer who averaged close to 17 points per game, had trouble adjusting to Upper Darby's zone defense and finished with nine points. Derike Chiclana led the Patriots with 16 points and Long added 12.

"We struggled against the (1-3-1) zone, and I don't know why," added Stellato. "We tried to give different players some different looks. We were able to get things together at times, but then we turned things off."

Jackson and Chiclana are among eight seniors who will be leaving the program. Still, Stellato is appreciative of his team's progress and is optimistic his club again can make an impact next season.

"I think we understood what it meant to get to this point of the season," he said. "We had plenty of highlights this season. This is an ongoing process for us, and now we have to speak to the younger guys to keep this heading in the right direction."