The Upper Arlington Golden Bears played at their pace, and it went well for three quarters.
By the end, long possessions favored Father Tolton as the Trailbalzers outscored the Golden Bears 9-1 in the final 6-plus minutes to win 36-27 in Friday's first-round game of the Joe Machens Great 8 Classic at Fleming Fieldhouse.
A Max Buckley layup at the 6:51 mark of the fourth quarter gave Upper Arlington its final lead at 26-25.
The Golden Bears missed their final seven shots, including four 3-pointers, while making 1-of-4 at the free-throw line.
Chase Martin gave Father Tolton the lead for good when a shot fake opened up the lane for a layup and a 28-26 edge with 4:42 remaining.
The Trailblazers made 7-of-11 free throws in the fourth quarter to close out the win.
It took more than three minutes for both teams to get on the scoreboard. Coban Porter scored the game's first points with a 3 from the corner and Upper Arlington's Geoffrey Schoeny answered by banking in a 3 from the wing at the 4:46 mark.
A second-chance basket for Lael Haile made it 7-5 Trailblazers at the end of one quarter.
Upper Arlington used a 7-1 run in the second quarter to take its largest lead at 16-10 with 4:20 left before halftime.
Golden Bear post player Magnus Entenmann scored all of his team-high seven points during that minute-and-a-half span, including a 3 from the wing
Nate Schwartze, who scored a game-high 13 points on 4-of-5 shooting and a 4-of-6 mark at the free-throw line, responded with a jumper and 3 from the corner to cut the deficit to one.
Upper Arlington scored the half's final points on a Quinn Corna layup with 2:01 left to make the halftime score 18-15.
Tolton led the final 5:10 of the third quarter after Martin made it 19-18 with a pair of free throws.
Martin and Porter scored seven points each.
Father Tolton (5-1) will face Helias (5-1) at 7 p.m. today in the semifinals. Helias defeated Oxford (Miss.) 68-57 in the first round Friday.
Upper Arlington (5-2) will take on Oxford (9-6) at 4 p.m. today in the loser's bracket semifinals.