Alex Bouchey scored the winner in OT and Jay Waller nets his 1st JR B goal as Brockville defeated Gananoque 5-4.

The Brockville Tikis stole an extra point the club needed to all but secure a third place finish in the Rideau Division of the Rideau- St. Lawrence Junior B Hockey League.

The two points moved the Tikis 12 points ahead of Gan, with the Islanders having seven games remaining while Brockville has six.

Brockville's overtime win was a bonus, considering they didn't play very well at all, said Tikis head coach Adam Folco.

"We didn't play our best, but it was definitely nice to grab a couple of points there," said Folco. "We may not have deserved to win, but it was nice to be able to get two points even though we weren't on top of our game."

Jay Waller, Ethan Robert and Robert Rice scored in the first period to give the Tikis a 3-2 lead, allowing two goals by Josh Rusk. Folco said the story could have been a lot different if not for several excellent stops by goaltender Ethan Wright.

"It was a pretty sloppy game," said Folco. "We turned the puck over quite a bit. We came out a little flat and just weren't on (Sunday)."

Dan Bennet scored to lift the Islanders into a 3-3 tie early in the second period but Shane Melcher fired his 26th of the season to give the Tikis the lead at the end of 40 minutes.

The third period was another back-and-forth frame for both clubs, turnovers leading to chances that were not converted until Jeff McAllister tied the score at 4-4 with less than five minutes remaining.

Bouchey scored 1:36 into the overtime period, on the power-play, to give the Tikis their 20th win on the season and 43rd point. The Tikis now trail Westport, stung by Athens 4-1 on Sunday, who now sit in second, by eight points.

"It was basically a four-point game," said Folco of tightening a grip on third place.

Folco is going to be drilling his club on the things they did and got away with somewhat with Gananoque, but won't have the same luxury against Athens and Westport when they face the top two teams in the league four times in their last six games.

"We're just not being smart with the puck, not taking care of it," said Folco.

The Tikis were struggling with making that first good pass to clear their zone and Folco said they need to tighten up the in their defensive end.

"Our penalty kill has been really good lately. We had a key two-man penalty kill and killed off almost the full two-man advantage which helped." said Folco.

Four losses in a row has left Westport looking up at Athens with the Tikis closing the gap. Folco knows it might be a long shot but the club has nothing to lose and lots to gain.

"It would be an outside shot, but if we could slide into some home ice advantage for the playoffs, that would be something to strive for over the last few games."

The Tikis don't wait long to try and build on a potential playoff matchup as they host the Athens Aeros on Wednesday and go to Westport on Friday. Game time on Wednsday is 7:45.