Before a packed house Friday night, the homestanding Troup Tigers made enough plays down the stretch to outlast the Callaway Cavaliers 55-52 in a thriller.

The Tigers led throughout the final quarter, but the Cavaliers remained within shouting distance the whole way.

The suspense didn’t end until a Callaway player missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Troup head coach Thermond Billingslea said his players played with poise down the stretch,”for the most part.”

“There were some breakdowns that almost killed me on the sidelines. But we did some good stuff at the end,” Billingslea said.

Lakeithin Buckner paced the Tigers with 17 points, with seven of those points coming in the final quarter.

Demetrius Trammell contributed 12 points for Troup, and he made 3-of-4 free-throw attempts in the fourth period.

Deonte Scott chipped in with 11 points.

For Callaway, Brandon Bridges led the way with 12 points, and Tyrell Tigner scored 10 points.

The Tigers looked like they were taking control of the game when they scored six straight points in less than a minute to go up 46-39 with 4:12 remaining.

The Cavaliers hung tough, though, and they got within a point when Tigner made a pair of free throws with 2:59 left.

The Tigers pushed the lead back to five when Buckner scored on a nice assist from Scott, but the Cavaliers responded and got within one again on two free throws by Bridges with 34 seconds left.

Trammell made two free throws with eight seconds left to give Troup a 55-52 lead.

Callaway had a chance to tie it with a 3-pointer, but the shot at the buzzer went awry.

Callaway returns to the court today for a home showdown with LaGrange at 7:30 p.m., while Troup will play a tournament game in Auburn, Ala. on Wednesday.