CHESTNUT HILL, MA - Wheelock College men's basketball junior Victor Kashouh (Providence, RI/Classical) notched a school-record 10 steals, and senior Daniel Main (Hopedale, MA/Hopedale) netted a career-high-tying 27 points, but Emmanuel College took a late lead in overtime and held on for a 92-91 victory on Tuesday evening at Pine Manor College's Brunelli Court. In a match-up of Colleges of the Fenway institutions, each squad moved to 1-3.
Main shot 11-for-14 from the charity stripe en route to matching his career-high point total, while Kashouh added 12 points to complete a double-double. Classmate Max Kaim (Fort Lauderdale, FL/Cypress Bay) totaled 16 points and five assists, and juniors Eric Rice (Woburn, MA/Woburn) and Kyle Pierce (Burlington, MA/Burlington) netted 14 and 12 points, respectively. Sophomore Bashir Hudson (Jamaica Plain, MA/Weston) added 10 points and eight rebounds off the bench. Wheelock forced 32 turnovers.
Emmanuel, which held a 46-30 advantage on the boards and a 23-7 lead on second-chance points, was led by senior Tyrone Buchanan's (Detroit, MI/Mumford) 32 points, 14 rebounds and four steals, as well as a 6-for-8 effort from three-point range. Junior Isaiah Duke (Albany, NY/Albany) collected 21 points and seven boards, shooting 13-of-15 on free-throw tries, while sophomore Xavier Everson (Rochester, NY/Rush-Henrietta) had 20 points and seven caroms. No other Saint had more than seven points.
Wheelock used a 6-0 run in overtime to erase an 85-81 hole, as Kaim's fall-away at 2:34 put the hosts on top. After Emmanuel twice forced ties, Hudson tipped home a teammate's miss with 51 seconds remaining to provide a 91-89 edge for the Wildcats. However, Duke snagged an offensive board and turned in a three-point play at the 43.4-tick mark to put the Saints ahead. Wheelock had a pair of possessions after falling behind, including a last-second shot that was off the mark.
The hosts led by as many as nine points during the second half, including by eight at 80-72 with 2:19 remaining after Kashouh picked off an errant pass and went in for a hoop, but Buchanan went on a personal 7-1 run to make it a 81-79 game with 1:02 left, and Duke provided a tying lay-up with 20.4 seconds left in regulation after rebounding his own miss. An off-balance shot by a Wheelock player at the buzzer was short, sending the teams to overtime.
During the opening stanza, Wheelock trailed by four 4:03 into the contest before scoring seven straight points to nab a 15-12 edge on a Rice lay-up at 14:28. Clinging to a 17-16 lead, the Wildcats went on an 11-0 run during a 2:42 stretch to go on top by 12, as Kashouh provided four steals and four points in that time. After the Saints made it 32-28 by 4:49, Wheelock pushed its lead back to 10 before Emmanuel scored five straight points in the final 1:04 to trail 44-39 at halftime.
Wheelock plays four of its next five games away from home, beginning next Thursday, Dec. 2, at Endicott College at 7 p.m.