The Toll Gate boys’ basketball team needed a 3 to force overtime with just seconds on the clock on Thursday night, but a turnover on the game’s final possession allowed Johnston to escape with a 52-49 road win in the league opener for both teams.

The Titans took a two-point lead into halftime, 24-22, thanks in large part to 12 first-half points from Aidan Estrella.

Panthers’ shooting guard Ryan Yankee netted 12 points of his own to help his team keep pace in the first half.

And, in the second half, the Panthers were able to push ahead as Nas Vasquez scored 10 points in the final 16 minutes and Mike Sabitoni added eight to assist in holding off Toll Gate.

Yankee and Vasquez would share game-high honors with 18 points apiece.

“I knew we’d be in for a battle over here,” Johnston head coach Ed Bedrosian said of traveling to Toll Gate for the league opener. “We’ve been successful these first couple of weeks, but we’re still searching for continuity. Any time you get a victory on the road, we’re happy with it. First half, we didn’t play so well, but they stepped up in the second half.”

After some back-and-forth play over the first few minutes, Matt Martinez took a pass in the corner from Damien Mendoza and buried a 3 to give Toll Gate a 9-4 cushion.

A couple of minutes later, Mendoza pushed the pace once again when he stole the ball and found a wide open Estrella for another 3 to increase the lead to 14-4.

Vasquez drove to the hoop and got fouled in the process on the next possession, and he would sink both of his free throws to end a 12-0 Toll Gate run.

Then, Yankee started to heat up.

He would bury a deep 3 with a hand in his face to trim Johnston’s deficit to 16-13, and his free throw a couple of minutes later would tie the game at 18.

The Titans were undeterred, though.

Another Estrella 3 would push them back in front by three, and they would hang on to take a two-point lead into the break.

“We told them at half, ‘You’re lucky you’re only down two,”’ Bedrosian said of his halftime message. “We fought back at the end (of the half), but we still didn’t play that well. We made some mistakes and then switched to man-to-man, which got us back in the game.”

Johnston stuck with the man-to-man defense in the second half, and it helped to spark a strong start for the Panthers.

A Yankee 3 with 12:50 left put the Panthers in front by two, but Brandon Scott drove to the hoop for a layup to knot the game at 29 shortly after.

Johnston answered that with a 9-0 run, however, highlighted by a Vasquez and-1 and a Yankee steal and score to give the visiting Panthers a 38-29 lead, triggering a timeout call from the Toll Gate bench.

The Titans would display a strong response out of the timeout.

Mendoza got things going with a floater in the paint, before forcing a steal and driving to the hoop for two more to make it 41-36 with 6:30 to go.

Toll Gate kept its momentum going, cutting the margin on the scoreboard to three, 45-42, with 1:33 left, but a Sabitoni and-1 increased Johnston’s lead to six once again.

The Titans were unfazed, as they continued to chip away.

They were able to make it a 3-point game, 52-49, on a desperation 3 by Mendoza and, with 5.5 seconds on the clock, Toll Gate got the ball back with a chance to tie. They inbounded the ball to Mendoza, who drove left over halfcourt, but stout defense from the Panthers forced Toll Gate into a turnover to help Johnston clinch the win.

Scott and Estrella both posted 14 points for Toll Gate to lead the offense. Mendoza scored all nine of his points in the second half to go along with six steals.

It was a tough loss for the Titans, but they proved that they’ll certainly be competitive in D-II this year, which should give them some confidence moving forward.

Toll Gate will be looking for its first league win tonight when it hosts Narragansett (1-0) at 7 p.m. The Mariners won their only league game, 63-49, at Rogers on Friday evening.