Davidson Day played its best basketball when it mattered most against Northside Christian.

The Patriots scored on seven of their final eight possessions to squeeze past Northside 64-59 in a nonconference game Saturday on the Knights' home court. After committing 11 turnovers and falling behind 30-22 at the break, Davidson Day (20-2) turned the tables by taking better care of possessions and forcing timely stops down the stretch against Northside (16-1).

"You've got to execute, and I felt like they did," Davidson Day coach Ron Johnson said. "We had 11 turnovers in the first half and obviously that's too many against a team like Northside. If we don't turn it over and defend a little bit, you've got a good chance."

Dorian Albritton and Rashun Davis paced Davidson Day with 16 points each, with Albritton scoring eight in the fourth quarter. Patriots forward Phillip Anglade's basket with 70 seconds left pushed Davidson Day ahead for good at 57-56 and Albritton's three-point play with 14.3 gave the Patriots a six-point bulge. A key adjustment in the second half was running the offense through Albritton when foul trouble hampered Anglade. Albritton and D.J. Carnegie (11 points) combined for 13 points in the third quarter, in which Davidson Day outscored Northside 16-8 to grab a 38-30 lead.

"We put (Albritton) in the high post on offense and the guy that were guarding him, we felt he couldn't really play him there," Johnson said. "Dorian's a pretty good shooter."

Northside guard James Logan led all scorers with 18 points, followed by Lawrence Cooks' 16, but the Knights couldn't close the deal after going ahead 56-55 on Luke Morrison's three-point goal with less than two minutes left.

"We had a breakdown at the four-minute mark and they capitalized," Northside coach Byron Dinkins said. "They're a good team and it was mistakes that cost us."

Davidson Day's efficiency proved to be the difference, especially on defense where the Patriots squeezed 13 points from their final six possessions while Northside managed eight from its final half-dozen.

"We spend so much time on our defense and when you play a really good opponent like Northside, if you're a team that concentrates on defense, it's the thing that's got to win it for you," Johnson said. We did a pretty good job down the stretch."