WATERVILLE, Maine --- After Trinity College tied the game at the end of regulation on a wild shot at the buzzer, the Colby College men's basketball team settled down and led the overtime from start to finish in a 70-67 victory in NESCAC play Saturday at Wadsworth Gymnasium.
Colby (11-8 overall, 3-4 NESCAC) appeared to have the game in hand after Patrick Stewart nailed a 3-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 (11-9, 3-4) tried a long pass to mid-court that went out of bounds with 1.6 seconds to play. Colby, though, threw the ball away on the inbounds play to Trinity's Hart Gliedman, who nailed an off-balance, falling over 3-point shot from about 35 feet out at the buzzer.
Colby started the overtime with two free throws from Chris Hudnut and then a corner 3-point shot 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 Shay Ajayi 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's Jaquann Starks hit 1-of-2 free throws to cut the margin to 65-63, Luke Westman may have scored the basket of the game for Colby with 1:39 left. He drove hard to the basket and scored over 6-foot-8 center George Papadeas, who had already blocked four shots in the game.
Both teams missed on chances before the Bantams' Alexander Conaway hit a short jumper with 23 seconds to play to cut the Colby lead to 67-65. After a turnover by Colby under Trinity's basket, the Bantams missed on a lay-up attempt with 19 seconds left. The Mules quickly got the ball up the court and Sam Willson, off a nice pass from Hudnut, scored and was fouled on a lay-up with eight seconds left. Willson sank the free throw and once again Colby seemed safe with a 70-65 lead.
Trinity, however, did not give up and quickly scored on a drive to the basket by Starks with 5.8 seconds left. The Mules once again turned the ball over to Gliedman, who threw up a 3-point attempt that Westman was able to get a finger on and grab the rebound to run the clock out.
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.
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 Edward Ogundeko had nine points and eight rebounds.
Colby, coming off a big win over third-ranked Amherst College on Friday night, 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.
Trinity was the top rebounding team in the NESCAC at the start of the week, but Colby had a 22-16 advantage on the boards in the first half. The Bantams, though, 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 Alexander Conaway scored on a 3-point play with 12 seconds left for a 55-53 lead. Stewart followed with his clutch 3-point shot for Colby.
COLBY 70, TRINITY 67
TRINITY (11-9, 3-4 NESCAC)
Hart Gliedman 6-10 0-1 15; Shay Ajayi 4-14 2-2 10; Edward Ogundeko 3-10 3-6
9; Alexander Conaway 2-6 4-5 8; Jaquann Starks 3-10 2-4 8; Rick Naylor 2-3
0-0 6; George Papadeas 1-7 4-8 6; Chris Turnbull 2-6 0-0 5; Brian Horn 0-1
0-0 0; Steve Spirou 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 23-70 15-26 67.
COLBY (11-8, 3-4 NESCAC)
Chris Hudnut 6-19 7-8 21; Ryan Jann 5-8 1-4 12; Patrick Stewart 4-10 2-2 12;
Sam Willson 4-9 3-3 11; Luke Westman 3-5 1-2 7; Michael Loginoff 1-3 1-2 3;
Myles Stephenson 0-3 2-2 2; Ben Brassord 1-1 0-0 2; Jesse Coulon 0-1 0-0 0;
Jonathan Kalin 0-0 0-0 0; Connor O'Neil 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-59 17-23 70.
Trinity....................... 23 35 9 - 67
Colby......................... 32 26 12 - 70
3-point goals--Trinity 6-19 (Hart Gliedman 3-6; Rick Naylor 2-3; Chris
Turnbull 1-4; Jaquann Starks 0-2; Brian Horn 0-1; Steve Spirou 0-1; Shay
Ajayi 0-2), Colby 5-16 (Chris Hudnut 2-6; Patrick Stewart 2-4; Ryan Jann
1-2; Michael Loginoff 0-1; Myles Stephenson 0-1; Jesse Coulon 0-1; Sam
Willson 0-1). Fouled out--Trinity-None, Colby-Patrick Stewart.
Rebounds--Trinity 52 (George Papadeas 10), Colby 40 (Chris Hudnut 8; Luke
Westman 8). Assists--Trinity 12 (Jaquann Starks 6), Colby 17 (Luke Westman
7). Total fouls--Trinity 18, Colby 24. Technical fouls--Trinity-Shay Ajayi;
TEAM, Colby-None. A-425