DANBURY — Time of possession is not typically a statistic tracked in basketball. For Newtown High Schools boys’ team, however, it might have been the most significant one in a South-West Conference Tournament quarterfinal-round visit to Immaculate of Danbury on Saturday night, February 26.

The fifth-seeded Nighthawks chewed about six minutes off the clock during three possessions en route to frustrating the host and fourth-seeded Mustangs in a 43-37 upset.

“I wanted to limit their possessions, especially here at home for them,” Newtown Coach Tim Tallcouch said.

“The key was we wanted to play with the lead,” the coach added.

Newtown held the lead throughout the game and ended nine years of Mustang dominance in the rivalry. Tallcouch noted that this was the first time he’s beaten Immaculate since his first season coaching at NHS, back in the 2012-13 campaign.

“This is a very big win for us,” Tallcouch said.

A victory that propelled the Nighthawks in the SWC tourney semifinals on Tuesday, March 1, at top-seed Notre Dame-Fairfield (scheduled for 7 pm).

In addition to controlling the pace of play — pushing the tempo in spots and when opportunities presented themselves — Newtown played solid, tight defense in holding the Mustangs to their season-low point total (Joel Barlow of Redding also held Immaculate to 37 in a win back in January).

The score was tied 5-5 after one quarter of play. NHS burned clock late in the stanza and missed on a chance to claim the lead until the second.

Joe McCray scored the first five points of the second and the Hawks did not relinquish the lead the rest of the way. Immaculate was within a point at 13-12 late in the second. Newtown held the ball for most of the final two-plus minutes of the half before a Liam O’Connell short-range shot pushed the advantage to three with two seconds to go. It was 15-12 at the break.

O’Connell hit a 3-pointer and Eli Williams scored off a nice assist by Makai Coleman for Newtown’s only field goals in the third quarter. A pair of Coleman free throws helped NHS to a 22-16 lead heading to the fourth.

Newtown’s defense remained stellar and surrendered just a two-point basket and pair of free throws in the stanza. O’Connell drew a charge on the defensive end and the Hawks held Immaculate without a point for five-plus minutes to begin the half.

O’Connell drained a 3 from the corner for a 26-18 lead early in the fourth. The Hawks went ahead by as many as nine points. The Mustangs got their offense going with 19 points in the final period — although a great portion of those points resulted from extra possessions due to fouls piling up. The Hawks better than matched that effort with 21 of their own. Newtown scored 14 points from the free throw line in the fourth alone.

The Hawks got 16 points from O’Connell and eight from McCray to lead the way.

Primary ball-handlers Tyson Mobley (who had four points in foul shots), McCray, O’Connell, and Coleman, did a nice job helping the Hawks possess the ball.

“Our guard play was superior tonight. I’m very proud of them,” Tallcouch said.

Sports Editor Andy Hutchison can be reached at andyh@thebee.com.