WAYNESBURG, Pa. - Hood College trailed for much of the evening, but took the lead in the final minute and defeated Waynesburg, 59-55, in the ECAC Division III South Quarterfinals.
With the win, the sixth-seeded Blazers will face second-seeded Stevenson in the semifinals. The game will be played at Bethany (W.Va.) on Saturday, March 7. The Bison will host the tournament's final two rounds after upsetting top-seeded Penn State Behrend in the quarterfinals.
Hood trailed 55-53 with less than two minutes left in the game, but Trevor Magnuski (Mechanicsburg, Pa. / Cumberland Valley) tied it up with 1:29 to go. Still tied at 55-55, Chris Cook (Mechanicsville, Va. / Lee-Davis) stole the ball and was fouled on his way in for the layup with 50 seconds left. The senior sank both free throws to give the Blazers their first lead since the 12:16 mark of the second half. After the Yellow Jackets' Jacob Fleegle missed a jumper, Reggie Daniels (Abingdon, Md. / Patterson Mill) grabbed the rebound. The senior forward was fouled and knocked down his two free throws to make it 59-55 with 18 seconds left.
Terell Buyck (Forestville, Md. / Bishop McNamara) led Hood with 12 points off the bench. He hit 4-of-8 field goals, including one of his two 3-point field goal attempts, and was perfect on his three tries at the free throw line. James Brown (Lancaster, Pa. / Lancaster Country Day) converted 5-of-7 field goals for 10 points and grabbed a team-high eight boards. Cook had 10 points, fueled by an 8-of-10 performance at the foul line, and added six rebounds and three steals. Daniels had nine points, six boards and two blocks.
Hood had an off night from the field, but maximized its ability to get to the free throw line. The Blazers made 21-of-30 free throws, while Waynesburg attempted just 13 as a team and made seven.
Fleegle scored a game-high 14 points for the Yellow Jackets and led the team with eight rebounds. BJ Durham netted 10 points, all in the first half.
Hood trailed throughout much of the first half, but the Blazers scored the final five points of the period. Jumpers by Buyck and Malik Harris (Columbia, Md. / Archbishop Spalding), and a free throw by Luke Casey (Nanticoke, Pa. / Crestwood) led to a 27-27 tie at the half.
Daniels scored the first five points of the second half to extend Hood's first half run to ten straight points, and resulted in a 32-27 advantage. The two squads traded the lead four times in the next eight minutes before Casey Hope's 3-pointer with 11:54 on the game clock made it 41-39 in favor of Waynesburg. From there, the Yellow Jackets maintained the lead until Hood's last minute comeback.
The Blazers limited Waynesburg to just 30 percent shooting from the floor.
The win was the 175th career victory for Hood head coach Tom Dickman.
It was the second straight year the two teams faced off in the ECAC Tournament. While the defenses shined in the 2015 matchup, it was the offenses on display when the Blazers took the 2014 meeting 103-75.
When Hood takes on Stevenson in the semifinals on Saturday, it will be the fourth meeting this season between the two programs. The squads each won the road game during the regular season before the Mustangs defeated the Blazers in the Commonwealth Conference Semifinals.