MONROE — As the seconds ticked down on the clock in Tuesday night’s intense matchup between the Cubs of Nevada and Prairie City-Monroe’s Mustangs, a sense of calm set over the gym. It made sense. The game on Tuesday was the epitome of a battle.

There were plenty of fouls, 3-pointers, hard offensive rebounds and intense confrontations. Ultimately, the Mustangs came out on top and claimed at least a share of the Heart of Iowa Conference title with a chance to win it outright when they host Saydel on Friday.

“We watched the tape of the first game and we were just statues out there, and tonight we were cranked up and ready to play. The intensity level between the first time and tonight was just totally different,” PCM coach Fred Lorensen said. “The home crowd was a lot of it. We get a great crowd on the road too, but if you couldn’t play tonight then you can’t play. It was fun.”