MARIETTA — It was the game that never seemed to end.

But it had to eventually, and Campbell beat McEachern 80-78 after five overtimes in the consolation game of the Region 4AAAAAA tournament Saturday afternoon at Marietta Garden.

Just when a sixth overtime period was looming, Nick Mitchell found an open lane and converted an inside layup with 1 second left to secure the deal. Mitchell’s shot put the Spartans into the state playoffs as a No. 3 seed.

“That was a heck of an overtime,” Campbell coach James Gwyn said. “I’ve never been in a five-overtime game. Both teams wanted to win and you don’t see that much in a consolation game.”

Dante Scott finished with 40 points for Campbell. Mitchell and freshman Lazarus Walker, who seldom saw playing time, each scored nine.

Logan McIntosh led McEachern with 28 points. Freddy Brown tacked on 16 and Deonta Patterson had 12.

With the score knotted at 56-all at regulation, McEachern let a four-point lead in the first overtime get away with about a minute left to play. With the Indians up 61-57, a 3-pointer by Scott from the top of the key put Campbell right back in it. McIntosh had a shot at putting the Indians back in front by three but made just one of two free throws and Mitchell tied it at 62-all with a layup to send the game into the second overtime.

Neither team seemed to gain momentum during the next overtime periods. There also weren’t a lot of points scored between the teams with the score tied at 71 at the end of the third overtime.

In the fourth overtime, there weren’t any points scored at all.

That wasn’t the case in the fifth overtime. It was Campbell that jumped to a quick five-point lead, only to watch it slip in the final minute. The Spartans appeared to be in good shape when Chris Mitchell hit a layup with roughly 40 seconds left to go ahead 78-73.

But McIntosh swiped that lead away in a matter of seconds.

He hit an open 3-pointer with 33 seconds left, got a quick steal and turned that into a layup to tie it.

During a timeout with 15 seconds left, and with Campbell in possession, the Spartans discussed their next move, which resulted in Nick Mitchell’s game-winning layup.

“We were trying to go for the last shot, and we wanted to take it with about seven to 10 seconds left,” Gwyn said. “Nick got a good look and put it in the front end.”