(Allentown, Pa.) – The Dickinson College men's basketball team set a school record, winning 10 games in the Centennial Conference for the first time in program history. The Red Devils completed a sweep of Muhlenberg College with a thrilling 70-69, overtime win at Memorial Hall. The Red Devils improve to 10-5 in the CC and raise their overall mark to 12-10 on the season.
The teams played even in the early going before Muhlenberg gained a seven point advantage at the 9:44 mark. The Mules stretched the lead to 23-13 before the Red Devils rallied to take the lead at the break. Senior Matt Dolan (Chalfont, Pa./St. Joe's Prep) pulled the Devils within one and first-year Adam Honig (Chappaqua, N.Y./Horace Greeley) put the Devils in front, 25-24,with 3:09 remaining in the half.
Sophomore Logan Furr (Sharon, Mass./Beaver Country Day) hit his second three-pointer of the half to put the Devils on top 28-26, and junior Chris Heine (Spring Lake, N.J./St. Rose) sank his second triple to put Dickinson in front, 31-30, at the break.
Muhlenberg scored immediately to start the second half but Honig answered with a three-pointer to give the Devils back the lead. Dickinson stretched the margin to seven with just over 15 minutes remaining. Another Honig three-pointer gave the Devils a 53-45 lead at the 8:06 mark.
The Mules fought back and took the lead with 3:20 to play on a three-point play by Kevin Hargrove. The Mules led by four before Honig hit another three-pointer and then put the Devils in front, 63-61, with an old-fashioned three-point play with 1:33 left in regulation. Austin Curry tied the game on the other end with a pair of free throws at the 1:20 mark.
The Devils missed but Dolan came up with the ball after Greg Nicol (Aberdeen, Scotland/Taft School, Conn.) tipped the outlet pass. The Mules held once again, pulling the rebound and calling a timeout with just six seconds remaining. The Devils held on the other end, sending the game into overtime with major playoff implications on the line.
Dolan knocked down a pair of three-pointers to put the Devils up 69-63 to start the overtime. Chris Barsanti (Hummelstown, Pa./Tilton School) hit a free throw to put the Devils up by seven. Muhlenberg stayed alive with back-to-back scores, including a three-pointer from Evan Tozer to cut the deficit to 70-68.
Muhlenberg pulled down the rebound and pulled within one on a free throw by Curry. The second shot went out of bounds and was awarded to Muhlenberg. Nicol pulled down a Mule miss and was tied up with the arrow pointing to Muhlenberg with just one second on the clock.
Following a timeout, the Mules had one last chance but could not get the shot to fall as the Red Devils held on for the win.
Honig finished with a career and game-high 30 points, hitting a career-best five three-pointers on the night. He dished out three assists and went 3-for-3 from the line. Dolan tallied 10 points and six rebounds to go with two assists and a pair of blocked shots. Tucker Landy (Durham, Conn./Xavier) added seven points, five rebounds and three assists. As a team, the Red Devils hits 8-of-11 free throws on the night.
Curry led Muhlenberg (12-10, 8-7) with 19 points and three assists, hitting 9-of-10 free throws. Spencer Lidic tallied 18 points and 13 rebounds while handing out four assists.
The Red Devils (12-10, 10-5) return home to face Haverford College on Saturday at 4:00 pm. They host Gettysburg College on Wednesday before heading to Lancaster to face Franklin & Marshall next weekend.