RALEIGH — After a Middle Creek fan vomited in the bleachers behind the Mustangs’ bench Thursday, the foul odor caused the reserves on the bench and players on the floor to feel similarly queasy. Thanks to the swift work of the Athens Drive janitorial staff, the mess was promptly cleaned up.

But nausea returned for the Mustangs down the stretch.

Middle Creek squandered a 13-point fourth-quarter lead only to pull out a 67-65 win at Athens after Garrius Adams made two free throws with three-tenths of a second remaining in the game.

“For us to play through a tough crowd, a never-before-seen situation on the bench, and get out of here with a win that puts us in first place, we’re very fortunate to be in the position we’re in,” said Mustangs coach David Kushner, whose team improved to 15-0 (6-0 in the Tri-Eight).

As Middle Creek guard Kip Kelly (14 points) pointed out, if a team is going to go undefeated, it has to be good, catch a few breaks and overcome unpredictable obstacles out of its control — all of which the Mustangs did against Athens.

Middle Creek shot 57 percent from the field and 91 percent (10-of-11) at the free-throw line. The Mustangs’ big three of Adams, Kelly and Nelson Kirksey accounted for 55 of their team’s points.

Their 1-3-1 zone, used mostly in the second quarter, troubled the Jaguars (13-3, 5-1) into hasty decisions and poor shots. Athens shot 4-for-18 from the floor in the second quarter, during which Middle Creek outscored the Jags 17-12 and built the cushion it enjoyed until the game’s final two minutes.

As for the breaks, Middle Creek wasn’t remotely fazed by the packed gymnasium or the stakes of the game. Robert Clemons couldn’t say the same for his Jaguars.

“Those first three quarters we kind of played like we would like to win. We didn’t play like we wanted to win,” the Athens coach said. “We were stagnant. We didn’t play with the aggressiveness we need to play with in a high-pitched game like this.”

As for the unpredictable obstacles, one was completely out of their control (the fan throwing up behind their bench), while the other was not. Middle Creek players were whistled for two technical fouls — both for talking back at officials — in a two-minute stretch of the fourth quarter. And both helped the Jaguars trim a 13-point deficit to five.

The second technical, called on Kirksey after a personal foul, his fourth, sent him to the bench for the final 5:28.

“We didn’t show the poise we were showing earlier in the game,” Kushner said. “We just did things we haven’t done all year, as far as characterwise. I like that we’re competing and showing the emotion, but we need to do it in a better way.”

The Mustangs were riding high early in the fourth quarter. Kelly’s 3-pointer on their first possession gave Middle Creek a 53-40 lead with 7:44 to play.

Athens responded with a 9-0 run, which was aided by the two Middle Creek technicals. Athens continued to hang around until Josh Davis (18 points) scored six points on three straight possessions to give the Jaguars a 61-59 lead with 1:45 to play.

Kelly responded with a deep 3-pointer, then Athens’ Quentin Edmundson (14 points) came back with a mid-range jumper to give the Jags the lead.

Adams answered with a three-point play to put the Mustangs ahead 65-63, and Athens’ Ulysess Watkins (16 points) answered with a jumper in the lane to tie it 65-65 with 14 seconds remaining.

“There was seven seconds when I had the ball,” Kelly said. “I knew there was no way we were going to let them get a shot off. The whole time, I was thinking that there was probably no way I was going to shoot. If Garrius was shooting sideways out of bounds, we were going to let him take the last shot. The night he was having, that’s what you have to do.”

Adams, who finished with 29 points, received the ball on the baseline, made his move and went up. The shot was short, and Middle Creek caught one last break when a foul was called.

Adams stepped to the line with the chance to win. His first shot arced through the air, then rattled around every part of the rim before dropping in. He made the second with far less drama.

“I was just thinking if I had missed the first one, I would make the second one,” Adams said. While it’s easy to dwell on a call at the buzzer that could’ve gone either way, Clemons said his team could have done any number of things earlier to prevent it from coming down to the wire.

Athens shot a respectable 49 percent from the floor, but that number would’ve been in the mid 50s had the Jaguars been able to convert any number of their shots they missed in the paint. And they also missed three free throws in the fourth quarter.

“We missed some easy shots, and we missed free throws,” Clemons said. “If we make some of those easy shots and some of those free throws, it’s a whole different story.”