Men's Basketball Wins Overtime Thriller over Wheaton

Worcester State 76, Wheaton 74

Box Score

Worcester, MA --- Junior Dave Douillette (Bridgewater, MA) tallied his only basket of the contest as he nailed the game-winning shot with 1.7 seconds left to give Worcester State a 76-74 overtime triumph over Wheaton College in non-conference men's basketball action this evening at the Lancer Gymnasium.

With the win the Lancers improve to 10-9 overall while the Lyons slip to 6-12. WSC is 3-0 all-time against Wheaton as their last win 100-91 came during the 1990-91 campaign.

The opening stanza of play featured seven lead changes and four ties as the largest advantage was a Wheaton four point edge - a mark that they held four times in the last nine minutes of the half. 

With the score knotted 30-30 with 2:08 left, senior Jaxon Leo (Leesburg, VA) netted a pair of buckets to put the Lyons up 34-30 at the 1:07 mark before senior Maurice Horton (Detroit, MI/Burncoat) cut the lead in half to close out the first period scoring.

The second frame was more of the same as the game went back and forth with nine lead changes and a pair of ties over the course of the first eight minutes until Wheaton went on an 8-0 run - with five points from Leo - to go up 53-46 with 9:49 remaining. The Lancers stayed right with the Lyons, but could only got as close as three points four times over the next four minutes of play.

With visitors ahead 61-56 at the 4:47 mark, Worcester State went on a 9-0 spurt as they connected for 3-for-4 from beyond the arc with the go-ahead trey by Horton at 4:10. Following a turnover, Horton again delivered another three-pointer 60 seconds later to put WSC on top 64-61.

But Wheaton soon tied the score 65-65 as junior Anthony Coppola (Watertown, MA) canned a pair of free throws and sophomore Brian Degnan (Narragansett, RI) equalized things for the eighth time to finish off the scoring with 2:16 left in regulation.

Both teams would have a pair of chances to score the go-ahead basket in the last two minutes, but did they did not take advantage of their opportunities. Following a missed WSC lay-up, Horton came up with a key blocked shot off senior Ben Stehle's (Newton, MA) jumper to send the game into extra frames.

The Lyons had the early three point (68-65) advantage one minute into the stanza before the Lancers soon outscored the visitors 9-2 - with five points by Horton - to open up a 74-70 edge with 1:20 left. Wheaton responded with four points in the paint by Degnan and Leo to tie things up at 74-74 for the 11th time with 22 seconds left.

Worcester State then held off calling a timeout to run a play to set up the game-winning heroics by Douillette has he connected for a 10 foot jumper at the top of the key. Douillette saved his best shot for last as he had missed all seven of his attempts from the field for the game.

The Lyons had a chance to respond, but Stehle's buzzer beater attempt at midcourt just fell short of the basket.

Horton scored 20 of his 27 points in the second half as he finished with 11 boards, 7 assists and a pair of blocks while junior Ryan Testagrossa (Athol, MA) registered 12 points with 5 helpers. Senior Pat Hamilton (Templeton, MA) chipped in with 7 points as he and Douillette each grabbed 6 boards for WSC.

Leo posted a team-best 22 points for Wheaton while Dengan added 12 points and 3 assists. Sophomore Anthony Weeks (Fitchburg, MA) and Coppola each tallied 13 and 11 points, respectively.

Wheaton was hot in the first stanza as they shot 54 percent from the field (13-for-24) and 6-for-11 from three-point land before they cooled off in the second period to only make 10 field goals on 26 attempts (38%) with one trey. Worcester State connected for exactly 50 percent for the game (33-for-66).

The Lancers held advantages on the glass (39-27), on the offensive boards (15-7), second chance points (18-5) and in the paint (38-26) while Wheaton converted 17 WSC miscues into 23 points.

Both teams return to their respective conference schedules when they host afternoon contests. Worcester State entertains MCLA at 5:30 while the Lyons take on Springfield at 1 PM.