A buzzer-beater was the difference.

Dedoch Chan led the Albert Lea boys’ basketball team with 32 points, but the Panthers edged the Tigers 59-57 Friday at Rochester.

“I thought our defense on the last possession was good,” said Albert Lea coach Lucas Kreuscher. “Their guy’s back was to the basket, and we got a deflection. It just didn’t work out.”

Chan buried three 3-pointers and added seven rebounds, two assists and four steals.

“He seemed to play at a different level tonight,” Kreuscher said. “He had a little more bounce in his step, and he hit two big 3s in the second half to give us a chance.”

With the score tied at 54, Century made a 3-point play. Albert Lea responded with a 3-pointer by Zach Romer that set the stage for the buzzer-beater.

The offensive gameplan was to attack the basket with dribble penetration or to find Chan in the paint, Kreuscher said.

“Everyone knows we’re trying to get him touches,” he said. “If he has two or three guys on him, our guys are getting better at spacing out around the perimeter for open looks.”

Defensively, the Tigers forced 18 turnovers. However, Albert Lea had trouble turning turnovers into points on the other end. In the first half, the team forced nine Century turnovers but they only created two points.

“We decided to pressure them, and we were extremely active on defense,” Kreuscher said. “We just left so many opportunities out there.”

Albert Lea never trailed by more than 10 points and never led. At halftime, the Tigers trailed 31-26, Kreuscher said.

Next, Albert Lea (0-22, 0-18 Big Nine) will host Mankato West (15-6, 13-5 Big Nine) at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The Tigers have four games before the Section 1AAA tournament starts. After the Mankato West game, the three other opponents are in the bottom half of the conference standings.