RICHMOND, Ind. – Junior Elijah Wilson-Thomas buried a game-winning three-pointer with two seconds left in overtime to lift the Earlham College men's basketball team to an 80-77 victory over Manchester University in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) action on Sunday.
Wilson-Thomas caught the inbounds pass with 6.3 seconds left and dribbled up the right side of Schuckman Court before stopping and hoisting the game-winner. The Quakers forced two Spartan turnovers to keep the score tied and setup Wilson-Thomas' triple.
"Elijah [Wilson-Thomas] did what he does best," head coach Jason Polykoff said. "We asked him to make a play and he did just that."
Earlham also needed Wilson-Thomas to help force overtime as Earlham trailed 70-63 with 4:30 to play in regulation. The Quakers ended regulation on a 9-2 run including four points from sophomore Nick Sands, a free throw from sophomore Isaiah Waire, a layup from sophomore, Darrell Hutchison, and two free throws from Wilson-Thomas after he was fouled attempting to grab a defensive rebound. Waire had a chance to win it in regulation, but his 18-foot jumper was off target.
Early in the contest, Manchester led by as many as 10 (16-6), but the Quakers went on a 13-0 run finished off by a layup from freshman Kenneth Stalling Jr. at the 9:35 mark of the first half. Trailing 36-30 at halftime, the Quakers tied the game 54-54 at the 10:50 mark and 72-72 at the end of regulation, but never led once in the second half.
Hutchison led the Quakers in scoring with 18 points while Wilson-Thomas had 13. Sands and Waire finished with nine points, Sanborn and Stalling Jr. and eight, and senior Kamari Hunter added seven points. Manchester had four players finish in double figures including the 2015-16 HCAC Most Valuable Player, Tyler Alexander, who led the Spartans with 17 points.
Earlham shot 41.1 percent for the game while Manchester fired at a 48.1 clip from the field. The Quakers' defense did hold the Spartans to zero field goals in the overtime session.
The two teams combined to go to the free throw line 74 times as there were 63 personal fouls called. Earlham hit 29-42 free throws for 69 percent while Manchester converted 24-32 from the charity stripe for 75 percent.
The Spartans held a 41-28 rebounding edge, but the Quakers forced 25 turnovers while committing only 15 themselves.
"This is one of the most mentally tough teams I've ever coached," said Polykoff. "Whenever we're down, we always fight back, and today was no exception. I'm very proud of our guys."
Earlham, which picked up its first HCAC win, improves to 4-5 overall and 1-3 in conference play. The Quakers will face Centre College on the road on Wednesday before concluding the calendar year and non-conference play by hosting Wabash College on Dec. 30.