Waterville, Maine - Trinity College junior guard Hart Gliedman (New York, N.Y.) made a heroic steal and buzzer-beating three-pointer to forced overtime, but the Colby College Mules men's led the extra frame from start to finish in a 70-67 victory in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) men's basketball action this afternoon at Wadsworth Gymnasium. Trinity drops to 11-9 overall and Colby improves to 11-8. Both teams are 3-4 in the conference.
Colby appeared to have the game in hand after Patrick Stewart nailed a three-point shot with 3.8 seconds left to give the Mules a 56-55 lead. Trinity was then called for a technical foul after calling a timeout with none remaining, though the Bantams disputed they had called time. Stewart nailed both technical free throws for a 58-55 margin. Trinity tried a long pass to mid-court that went out of bounds with 1.6 seconds to play, but Colby threw the ball away on the inbounds play to Gliedman, who nailed an off-balance, falling over long ball from more than 35 feet out at the buzzer.
Colby started the overtime with two free throws from Chris Hudnut and then a corner three-pointer from Ryan Jann for a 63-58 lead with 3:48 to play. Trinity cut the lead to three on a drive to the basket by junior forward Shay Ajayi (Brooklyn, N.Y.) with 3:32 left, but Hudnut answered with a baseline jumper with 3:11 to play. Ajayi scored again inside with 2:48 to go to make it 65-62. After Trinity sophomore guard Jaquann Starks (Hartford, Conn.) hit 1-of-2 free throws to cut the margin to 65-63, Luke Westman scored on a hard drive for the key hoop of the game. Both teams missed on chances before the Bantam junior forward Alex Conaway (New Haven, Conn.) hit a short jumper with 23 seconds left to cut the Colby lead to 67-65. After a turnover by Colby under Trinity's basket, the Bantams missed a lay-up attempt with 19 seconds left. The Mules quickly got the ball up the court and Sam Willson converted on an old-fashioned three-point play. Trinity quickly scored on a drive to the basket by Starks with 5.8 seconds left, and Gliedman once again came up with a clutch steal but this time his game-tying three-point bid came up short and the clock ran out.
Colby had started strong and led, 16-7, with 9:47 left to halftime. The Mules led by as much as 12 points in the first half before settling on a 32-23 lead at intermission. Colby had a 22-16 advantage on the boards in the first half. The Bantams dominated on the offensive boards in the second half and finished with a 52-40 edge (24 offensive) for the game. Trinity had its last lead of the game in regulation when Conaway scored on a traditional three-point play after an offensive rebound with 12 seconds left for a 55-53 lead.
Gliedman led Trinity with 15 points, four assists, and three steals. Ajayi added 10 points and six rebounds, Starks finished with eight points and six assists, Papadeas had a game-high 10 rebounds to go with his four blocks, and rookie forward Edward Ogundeko (Brooklyn, N.Y.) had nine points and eight rebounds. Hudnut finished with 21 points, eight rebounds, and four assists for Colby. Jann and Stewart both had 12 points, while Willson added 11 points and seven rebounds. Westman had a terrific all-around game with seven points, eight rebounds, seven assists, four blocked shots, and two steals.