GWYNEDD VALLEY, PA. -- Gwynedd Mercy captured the 2020 ECAC Men's Basketball Championship, as the Griffins held off Rutgers-Newark, 75-71, at The Griffin Complex on Sunday.

Rich Dunham was named Tournament MVP as the senior capped off his career with a 24-point performance to lead all scorers. Nathaniel Walker scored 12, while he and Donaven Spencer each grabbed six rebounds.

This is the first ECAC Championship in program history in the sport of men's basketball.

Gwynedd Mercy went to the free-throw line a season-high 42 times, hitting on 33 of those attempts. They would go 19-of-24 in the second half including two big ones from Spencer with four seconds left to make it a two possession game.

Chase Barneys paced the Scarlet Raiders with 20 points, hitting three of his team's eight three-pointers. His triple with 5:43 in the first half gave Rutgers-Newark a 10-point lead, their largest of the contest, at 35-25. Gwynedd put together a 13-5 run to end the stanza to trail by two at the break (40-38).

The second half, which saw three lead changes and three ties, featured the two squads trying to open up a lead. The largest lead of any team was just five points.

A 9-0 run midway through the period gave the Scarlet Raiders a 54-50 edge, capped by a three from Jamir Patterson. Later on, back-to-back three-pointers from Shane Ford and Dunham helped Gwynedd to a five-point advantage. Now tied at 62-62 with just under four minutes to play, Walker was fouled on his strong finish to the bucket where his attempt rolled around the rim and in. The three-point play put GMercyU ahead for good but not without some close calls from the visitors.

A three from Mike Vick pulled Rutgers-Newark to 72-70 with just 16 ticks. After Walker hit one of two from the line on their next trip down, the Griffins fouled Vick to send him to the charity stripe where he too also connected on one. Spencer grabbed the rebound off the miss and was fouled with seconds to go with Gwynedd up two. He hit his attempts to make it a four-point game and help seal the outcome.

Spencer and Somah Slewion were selected to the ECAC All-Tournament Team along with Barneys, Ryan Graziano of Baruch, and Riley Collins of Drew.

With the win, Gwynedd finishes the season with a record of 23-7. It will also mark the final games for the team's three seniors: Dunham, Slewion, and Austin Harriott. Harriott was a senior transfer from Bloomsburg who played in 29 games and started 22 of them this season, averaging 8.7 points and 6.3 rebounds. Slewion played two seasons as a Griffin, after spending the first two seasons at Bucks Country Community College appearing in 54 games in the Red and Gold while starting 25 games this year. Dunham will leave the program with a bevy of school records including the all-time leader in steals, free throw percentage, three-point percentage, and free throws made. He is the second all-time scoring leader, amassing 1605 points in 112 games.