ST. LOUIS – Senior Trent Noordsij drained a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the left corner as the University of Rochester men's basketball team shocked 8th-ranked Washington University in St. Louis by a 72-71 score on Sunday afternoon at the Wash U Field House.
Noordsij's shot fended off a Washington rally which saw the Bears (16-5, 6-4 UAA) fight back from a nine-point second half deficit against the Yellowjackets (14-7, 6-5 UAA).
Washington took its final lead of the game in the closing seconds, with Matt Gonzalo draining a right corner triple with nine seconds on the clock, putting the Bears up 71-69.
Rochester, on the ensuing inbounds, turned the ball over at midcourt following a miscommunication on the fast break play. Following the steal that was made by Kevin Davet, he was fouled but missed both ends of a two-shot foul opportunity and UR secured the rebound and quickly called time out.
The UR staff drew up a terrific play in the final six seconds which ended in the Noordsij game-winner. The inbounds went to senior Ross Gang who dribbled up the right wing and threw a hard baseball pass to the opposite corner where Noorsidj was waiting and swished the shot as the buzzer sounded.
Noordsij's triple pushed his game total to just five points, but he secured the biggest points of the game, making the Yellowjackets final two baskets. Gang was UR's leading scorer with 17 points. Brian Amabilino Perez secured 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting and Matt Wiele added ten points.
Dan Masino had eight points, as did C.J. Amsellem who was 3-for-3 shooting and sank both of his 3-point attempts on the game. Overall, Rochester drained 10-of-19 from behind the arc as a team, ending at 52.6% for the game, second best in a game this season. The ten three's matched a season-high.
After the Bears grabbed a six-point lead following a Tyler Carlson 3-pointer eight minutes into the game, Rochester reeled off an 11-0 burst to grab a 19-14 advantage. The run featured triples from Amsellem, Matt Niemczura and Gang while Logan Jagodzinski finished it off with a jump shot.
UR would hold the lead for the rest of the half, closing the first period on an eight-point run to lead 41-32 at intermission.
The Yellowjackets would maintain its nine-point advantage, sitting up 58-49 with 11:15 left in the game before Wash U began its rally.
Over the next six minutes, the Bears rattled off a 17-4 run to grab a four-point lead at 66-62. Justin Hardy and Hayden Doyle led Washington in the stretch with five points each while Charlie Jacob had four in the spurt. UR meanwhile, went cold from the floor, making just 2-of-8 shots to drop behind on the scoreboard.
Gang hit a big 3-pointer and Amabilino Perez sank a reverse layup to pull the Yellowjackets back in front.
Jake Wolf put the Bears back in front, but Noordsij responded to make the score 69-68 with 1:18 left. The teams followed with empty possessions each way, setting up the dramatic finish over the final ten seconds.
Jacob finished with 23 points to lead all scorers for the Bears. Hardy scored 13 points and had six rebounds while Doyle chipped in 13 points. Wash U as a team also sank 10 3-pointers, but needed 26 attempts and ended at 38.5% from distance in the game.
Rochester returns home for its final two home games of the season next weekend. UR hosts Carnegie Mellon on Friday and Case Western Reserve on Sunday in the Palestra.