It was a gutsy effort but in the end the Vipers failed to cash in two points.
After starting the weekend with a Friday night win over the West Kelowna Warriors, the Vipers welcomed Merritt to town Saturday.
Merritt opened the scoring in the first and carried a 1-0 lead late into the second period before Vernon's Connor Marritt scored his 7th goal of the season at 17:01, with Matt Kowalski and Josh Latta earning assists.
Merritt regained the lead early in the third period to take a 2-1 lead.
The Centennials held that lead until Vernon's Matt Kowalski potted his 10th goal of the year with 1:21 seconds left in the game to send it to overtime.
The heartbreak came with eight seconds left in the extra frame when Nick Granowicz of Merritt scored his 25th goal of the year.
Matt Kowalski of Vernon earned the game's second star in the loss.
Vernon still sits last in the Interior Divison with 38 points.
Vernon now takes to the road for a game in Surrey on Tuesday before returning home for back to back games Friday and Saturday against Salmon Arm and Powell River.