Springfield, Mass. - February 5, 2020 - Behind a historic performance by Jake Ross (Northampton, Mass.), the Springfield College men's basketball team outlasted Coast Guard in double overtime, 105-99, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play in Blake Arena on Wednesday night.
Ranked No. 23 in the most recent D3hoops.com National Poll, the Pride improved to 17-3, 8-1 in conference play, while the Bears slipped to 7-12, 2-7.
Ross put together one of the best performances in all of college basketball this season as he produced 55 points, 21 rebounds, and five steals to power the Pride to victory. The only player in Division I, II, or III to have at least 50 points and 20 rebounds in a game this year, Ross broke the previous Springfield College men's basketball program record for points in a game, which was 50 set in 1970. Additionally, his 55 points was the second most scored in a game this season throughout the country, regardless of division. Heath Post (Cheshire, Conn.) added 17 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists, and Daryl Costa (Providence, R.I.) added 10 points. The Pride shot 35-for-87 (40%), held a 58-53 edge on the glass, and made 27-of-37 from the charity stripe.
For the Bears, Justin Kane netted 35 points, including 25 in the second half, and hauled down 11 boards, while Packy Witkowski delivered 27 points and seven boards. Tyler Perez hauled in 10 boards for the visitors, who finished the game shooting 39-for-87 (44%), while was bolstered by a 23-for-40 (58%) performance in the second half.
At the 14:59 mark of the first half, Ross drilled a three-pointer to give Springfield an early 14-6 advantage, and despite the visitors pulling within five points on a pair of occasions, the Pride used a 7-0 spurt as three-pointers from Trey Witter (Unionville, Conn.) and Ross allowed the lead to grow to 22-9 with 11:13 to play. Springfield's advantage would balloon to as much as 34-14 on a Witter freebie with under six minutes to play before the visitors used a 15-4 surge over the next four-plus minutes, fueled by nine points from Witkowski, to pull within single digits at 38-29. The Pride would eventually take a 42-33 cushion into the halftime break, with Ross netting 20 first-half points to lead all scorers.
Coast Guard opened up the second half on a 7-2 burst, as Witkowski knocked down another trifecta to force the Pride into a timeout with 17:21 on the clock. An inside finish by Ross would push the lead back to 52-45 at 14:47, but the Bears responded with a 9-2 run to even the game up at the 11:40 mark following another Witkowski shot from downtown. Over the next 1:53, Springfield built its lead back to 63-56 after a three-pointer from Ross, and despite Coast Guard make it a one-point game twice, Springfield held a 83-74 lead with 1:12 to play in regulation following two free throws by Ross. The visitors showed remarkable resolve down the stretch, led by the efforts of Kane who netted nine points in the final 40 seconds, including a lay up in the final seconds to force extra time.
Ross broke the scoring record just 49 seconds into overtime as muscled his way into the lane for a pull up jumper to give the hosts a 93-90 lead. A Costa free throw pushed the lead to 97-92 with 2:18 to play, but Springfield would not score again and Kane once again delivered with a bucket in the paint with nine seconds to go to make it a 97-all contest heading into the second overtime.
Springfield leaned on its veterans other than Ross in the second OT, as Witter and Post each scored to start the session to make it a two possession game. Springfield would force Coast Guard into four turnovers and Post flushed a dunk with 17 ticks on the clock to seal the thrilling 105-99 win.
Springfield will play again in Blake Arena on Saturday afternoon when it hosts Emerson at 3 pm.
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