Ajagu came up big on both ends of the floor Thursday in Palo Alto. In the final two minutes, the lithe forward sank four free throws and made a defensive stop to lead the Vikings over Milpitas 54-48.

The win tied Palo Alto with Milpitas at 6-1 atop the division.

"He's still not all the way back," Palo Alto Coach Peter Diepenbrock said of Ajagu. "But it's real good for him to come up with a big play at the end of the game."

Ajagu's blocked Shawn Acosta's three-point attempt with 1:30 to play and the Vikings up 49-45. He then chased down the ball and passed it to a teammate before it went out of bounds.

Ajagu finished with 11 points and seven rebounds.

Until Ajagu's block, it was anybody's game. Milpitas took a 45-44 lead with 3:08 to play on a driving basket by Jason Billie. Billie entered the game averaging 19 points but was limited to 14 by the tenacious Vikings' pressure defense.

"Defensively, we kept battling and battling," Diepenbrock said. "We threw the press on them and that turned the ball game around. Our guys have so much heart, they just refuse to lose."

After Billie's bucket, Palo Alto (12-8) closed the game on a 9-3 run.

The run began when Cliff Anderson nailed a three-pointer with 2:45 to play. Anderson finished with 11 points.

"It was a great game," Milpitas Coach Steve Cain said. "But if (Anderson) misses that shot the momentum goes our way and it's a different game."

After Anderson's shot put the Vikings up 47-45, Palo Alto's Tak Abe stole the ball at midcourt and went in for a layup to put his team up by four with a little over two minutes to play. Diepenbrock thought Abe's effort exemplified what spurred the Vikings over the Trojans (15-5).

"We have different guys stepping up and making plays," Diepenbrock said. "We're playing four sophomores and guys have been making plays all year long."

Cain agreed.

"They have a real balanced team," Cain said. "It's a typical Palo Alto team. A lot of people can handle the ball, penetrate and kick the ball out. We wanted to stop them from driving the middle and we didn't do it."

In the first half, Palo Alto came out hot, hitting its first three field goals to go up 8-0, but the Vikings cooled quickly. They hit just one of eight shots to close out the quarter and the teams went into the second quarter tied at 12.

Milpitas grabbed a slim second-quarter lead and was leading 24-23 at halftime. Alex Jackson led the Trojans in scoring in the first half with eight and finished with nine.