NORTH BEND — All the challenge of playing against Siuslaw’s deliberate offense was worth it for North Bend Friday night when Jacob Mitchell’s potential game-winning 3-pointer was off the mark at the buzzer and the Bulldogs escaped with a 25-23 victory.

“The kids did an awesome job of understanding what type of game it was going to be and not letting it frustrate them,” said North Bend coach John Olson, whose team lost a similar game in Florence during the first round of Far West League play.

With the win in a game filled with statistical oddities — at least for contests not involving Siuslaw — the Bulldogs improved to 5-4 and pulled within a game of the Vikings in the race for second place.

But they had to hold on to do it.

North Bend led 21-15 entering the final quarter, but promptly turned the ball over twice, with Siuslaw capitalizing each time. First Joe Swesey stole a pass and went the length of the court for a layin, about the only time all game Siuslaw had a possession of less than a minute on offense.

After another turnover, Danny Barnum scored on a jumper in the lane for the Vikings.

Trae Collins hit two free throws for the Bulldogs, but Henry Gray scored for Siuslaw and then Eric Tippler tied the score with 4:32 to go — the only tie in a game that also featured just two lead changes.

Bryce Weidman quickly gave North Bend the lead back with a jumper that turned out to be the last point of the game.

Siuslaw had a shot to tie the game in the final minute, but Barnum was off the mark and North Bend’s Sam Lynass grabbed the rebound.

Lynass was forced into a trap on the sidelines on North Bend’s end of the court, and stepped out of bounds. But the Vikings again failed to score, and Lynass was fouled with just under 30 seconds to go. He missed the free throw, setting up the dramatic conclusion.

North Bend, which to that point had just one foul in the game, used two fouls to keep Siuslaw from getting into an offensive set. The second one led to the Vikings’ final timeout with nine seconds remaining.

The Vikings passed the ball in to Gray, who missed a contested 3-pointer from the right corner. René Alaniz chased the ball down, and passed it to Mitchell, who was wide open at the top of the key, but his shot was off the mark.

“We hung in there and we hung in there,” said Siuslaw coach Dan Gray. “I was hoping for a chance to win, and we had that.”

Gray was quick to credit Olson and the Bulldogs for doing what they needed to win the game.

“John did a fantastic job mixing the defenses,” he said. “He did a great job getting his kids ready to play that kind of game.”

The Bulldogs pressured Siuslaw early, forcing the pace on offense and creating turnovers on defense, but couldn’t put up many points.

North Bend led 8-4 after one quarter and had its biggest lead at 11-4 when Weidman hit a 3-pointer early in the second. But Siuslaw battled back and trailed just 16-13 at halftime after Tippler hit a 3-pointer.

The teams combined for just seven points in the third quarter — a bucket inside by Trae Collins and a 3-pointer by Lynass for the Bulldogs offset by a hoop from Alaniz for the Vikings.

Weidman said the biggest difference between this game and North Bend’s earlier loss to Siuslaw was that the Bulldogs were patient, both on offense and defense.

“I think we didn’t let it bother us as much as other teams have,” he said.

The Bulldogs were content to sit back in a zone at times and let Mitchell or Swesey hold the ball near mid-court for long stretches, and threw traps at the Vikings to try to force turnovers at other moments.

“We put a lot of defenses in this week to frustrate them,” Weidman said.

Siuslaw shot just 11-for-29 from the floor, but took care of the ball well after the early part of the game. The Vikings  had 11 turnovers, while forcing 15.

North Bend shot better from the field at 9-for-19, but made just half of its 10 free throws. That was 10 more free throws than Siuslaw shot, since all three of North Bend’s fouls were not committed during shot attempts.

Collins had nine points and seven rebounds, while Weidman and Lynass scored seven points each.

Henry Gray led Siuslaw with six points.

Despite the tough loss Friday, Mitchell said the Vikings have grown to enjoy their deliberate game plan.

“Once you get used to it, you love it,” he said. “Nobody cares how many points they score. I love wearing down the defenses.”

While the defeat was tough, Mitchell was proud of his team’s effort.

“We came out down six at the start of the start of the fourth and came back and tied it right off the bat,” he said. “I think that’s our team’s character and work ethic.”

But after a few close wins in games like Friday’s, the Vikings came up short this time when they had a chance to build a cushion in the race for second place.

“This would have been huge,” Dan Gray said. “But we’ll get another chance.”