CASTLETON, Vt. -- No. 2 Colby-Sawyer College outscored the third-seeded University of Maine at Farmington 15-5 in overtime to triumph over the Beavers 72-62 in the North Atlantic Conference Men's Basketball Semifinals this evening at Glenbrook Gymnasium.
UMF closed out its season at 16-11. The Chargers (20-7) advance to the conference final against No. 1 Castleton State College Saturday at 4:30 p.m. in Castleton, Vt.
Ben Johnson (Manchester, Maine) tallied a game-high 18 points and hauled in a career-best 18 rebounds for the Beavers. It was Johnson's 12th double-double on the season. Dan Kane (Bradford, Maine) supplied 12 points and seven assists in the loss, while Joe McCloskey (Howland, Maine) added 11 points.
UMF connected on 41 percent (23-58) from the floor, but only 17 percent (4-24) from 3-point range. The Chargers made 38 percent (24-64) with 37 percent (11-30) from beyond the arc.
Koang Thok led Colby-Sawyer with 17 points as the Chargers had four players score double figures. Will Bardaglio and James Tobin scored 15 and 14 points, respectively, in the win, with Corey Willis chipping in 11 points.
The Chargers outscored UMF 7-2 over the first 2:08 over overtime with a Bardaglio three making it 64-59 with 2:52 remaining. The Beavers could only get as close as three points the rest of the way as Thok scored four points in the extra session and Willis made five of six foul shots over the final 23 seconds to close out the 72-62 Colby-Sawyer victory.
Colby-Sawyer forged a 13-6 advantage on a Bardaglio trey seven minutes into the contest and expanded its lead to 11 points at one points. A Kane 3-pointer responded to a Bardaglio make as the Beavers went into the break down 32-24.
UMF scored the first eight points of the second half to tie the contest at 32-32 on two Kane free throws with 17:50 to go and took a pair of leads (36-34, 38-37), but the Chargers again built distance with a 10-0 run to push themselves back to a 47-38 lead with 11:44 remaining.
The Beavers trailed 52-42 with 7:33 to play, but ripped off a 9-1 run, punctuated by a Johnson two-handed slam, to get back into the game at 53-51 with 5:20 remaining. After a Thok basket, McCloskey made a layup and Kane knocked down two foul shots to tie the game at 55-55 with 2:16 to go.
Following three straight empty possessions, Kane scored off a McCloskey dish with 26 seconds left to make it 57-55 in favor of UMF. The Chargers evened the score at 57-57 on a Tobin basket with 10 seconds left to send the game into overtime.
Thok and Johnson exchanged baskets to open overtime, but a Tobin layup and Bardaglio's three made it 64-59. Johnson answered with another putback to make it 64-61 with 2:33 to go.
A Stephen Thorpe free throw and a pair of one-shot trips for the Beavers were followed by a Thok hoop to push the lead to 67-61 with 41 seconds left. After a Pet Sumner (Cramerton, N.C.) free throw, Willis made five of six from the line to clinch Colby-Sawyer's 72-62 win.