The United South Central boys’ basketball team played at Blue Earth for the second time in less than 20 days on Monday.

The Rebels beat the Bucs on Dec. 28 to win the Blue Earth tournament, and USC got the same result in the rematch.

However, the Rebels were forced to work a little harder the second time around. The first win was a 22-point victory. In the rematch, the Rebels squeaked past the Bucs 77-76 in overtime.

Luke Trio, USC’s starting point guard, was on the sideline with an injury.

The Rebels led 35-27 at halftime but needed a 3-pointer by Walker Linde to tie the game and send it to overtime.

“We grew up a little bit tonight,” said USC head coach Rob Stevermer. “We had the lead and they chipped away.”

In overtime, Blue Earth took an early 3-point lead, Stevermer said. But the Rebels responded with clutch shooting.

“We had some key baskets from Cody Nelson, Nate Pederson had a couple of free throws and Trevor Stencel hit a 3-pointer to give us some momentum,” Stevermer said. “From there, we never trailed.”

Blue Earth’s Luke Monson scored a game-high 41 points and tied USC’s Nate Pederson with a game-high 13 rebounds.

Pederson rounded out a double-double with 12 points.

“He really had a solid game overall,” Stevermer said about Pederson. “He does so much defensively with deflections and steals. He had the double-double, but there’s so much he does that isn’t measured.”

Pederson was one of five Rebels to score in double figures: Trevor Stencel led the team with 13 points, Linde had 12, Grant Becher, 11, and Nelson, 10.

USC (9-2 overall, 3-1 Gopher Conference) has won six straight games after a one-point home loss against NRHEG. In the conference standings, the Rebels are in second place.

USC hosts Bethlehem Academy (6-5 overall, 3-1 Gopher Conference) at 7:15 p.m. tonight.

Statistics are in the Scoreboard: Jan. 13 post.