Patience Produces Lancer Win : Prep basketball: Thousand Oaks abandons up-tempo style and hands Channel Islands loss in triple overtime.

Thousand Oaks High has pulled the rip cord on its up-tempo offense, and the result has been consecutive Marmonte League victories.

Saturday night at Channel Islands, the Lancers abandoned their run-and-gun style for the second consecutive night, reverting to their traditional slow-down offense of years past during a 56-54 victory in triple overtime.

And why not? It worked for the struggling Lancers, losers of two of their first three league games, during an overtime win over Royal on Friday.

Thus, Thousand Oaks (12-3 overall, 3-2 in league play), which set a school record with 98 points earlier this season, used a deliberate approach that became a success when Shane Graham hit two free throws with seven seconds left in the third overtime.

“We decided the points were nice, but we’d like to post a few Ws,” a smiling Thousand Oaks Coach Ed Chevalier said.

After taking a 50-43 lead on a three-point play by Brian Capella (14 points, five steals) with four minutes to play in regulation, the Lancers turned the ball over five times.

Channel Islands (13-3, 4-1), meanwhile, put the game in the hands of Stephane Brown (23 points, 19 rebounds). Brown, a 6-foot-2 senior guard, scored the Raiders’ final 11 points, including a steal and layin that tied the score, 50-50, with 1:35 left. After the Raiders ran 1:20 off the clock, Brown missed an off-balance 18-foot shot, setting the stage for the overtimes.

In the first extra period, Thousand Oaks guard Scott Peterson fed Chris Loll for a turnaround jump shot with 32 seconds left that tied the score, 54-54. Channel Islands worked the clock until time expired and failed to get off a shot.

In the second overtime, Channel Islands held the ball for the final 2:58 and threw up a hurried three-point attempt.

Channel Islands’ strategy to run time off the clock in the third overtime failed when Raycean Campbell was called for traveling with 2:15 left. Loll (20 points, 16 rebounds, four blocks) missed a jump shot with 50 seconds to play and the Lancers missed two rebound baskets. But Brown turned over the ball with 10 seconds left and Peterson found Graham, who was fouled.

“I was only thinking swish,” Graham said of his free throws.

And that’s what he did, for an old-fashioned victory.