NEWBURGH, N.Y. – Marcus Patterson put back an offensive rebound as the final tenths of a second came off the clock, making the buzzer-beating layup to push Skyline Conference leader Sage Colleges (20-4, 14-3 Skyline) past the Mount Saint Mary College men's basketball team (7-17, 6-11 Skyline) in double overtime on Tuesday at the Kaplan Center.
Tuesday's loss eliminates the Knights from Skyline Conference postseason contention. At the same time, Sage clinches the Skyline Conference Regular-Season Title and the top seed in the Skyline Conference Championship tournament.
The Knights had not trailed for more than 45 minutes until a pair of free throws by Patterson put the Gators up, 84-82, 19 seconds into the second overtime. Sophomore guard
Connor Nicholson (Staten Island, N.Y.) followed that up with a two free throws of his own to tie the game, but Troy Nwanna was then sent to the line, where he put Sage back up by two. Nwanna reached the line again shortly after, making one-of-two shots to put Sage up by three.
Sophomore forward
Alex Smith (Marlboro, N.Y.) drained an underhanded reverse layup on the ensuing possession to get the Knights back within one, but Patterson came down the court and made a layup to make the Gator lead three one again. The Knights were unable to score on their next trip down the court, allowing Nwanna to put the Gators up by five on a layup with 1:13 remaining.
With desperation creeping down on them, the Knights got a boost from freshman forward
Gerard Nocera (Holmdel, N.J.), who quickly drained a contested three from the far corner to get the Knights back within two at 91-89 with a minute to play. Travis Gill turned the ball over on the next play, and then freshman guard
Tyler McDine (Suffern, N.Y.) was fouled, giving him a chance to tie the game with 51 ticks on the clock. McDine was true on both of his attempts to tie the game at 91-91 with just 18 seconds left.
Sage came down the court playing for one last shot. Andre Robinson fired away from just inside the three-point line near the top of the key, but bricked it off the side of the rim. Patterson was there to clean it up, laying it in just before the backboard lit up and the buzzer sounded to give Sage the win.
The final play of the game was not the only dramatic moment in a nerve-wracking game at the Kaplan Center. The Knights held a five-point lead heading in to the second half, and quickly turned it into a 12-point advantage after a quick 7-0 run to open the period. The Knights took their largest lead at 65-50 after a layup by Nicholson with just 8:05 to play. Sage then found a way to turn the tables on the Knights, and went on a 12-0 run that included 10 free throws to cut the deficit to just three points with 4:23 on the clock.
The Knights pushed their lead back out to five on a pair of foul shots by Smith, but Kai Deans was able to score on back-to-back plays to get Sage within one. Later, the Knights took a 73-70 lead after McDine made two from the charity stripe. The Knights elected to foul instead of giving the Gators a chance to tie with a three. Jorrdan McCray made the first chance, but missed the second. Deans snagged the rebounds for the Gators, and put the ball back up and through the hoop to tie the game at 73-73. Nocera was unable to make a long three before the buzzer, sending the game into overtime.
The Knights looked comfortable as the extra period kicked off, scoring the first five points on a layup by McDine and a three by freshman guard
Daniel Wolff (Holtsville, N.Y.). Deans then made a layup, but McDine drew another foul and made both shots to put the Knights up, 80-75. Nwanna made a quick trey as the Gators ran down the court, and then the Gators forced the Knights to turn it over. Melvin Ford put back an offensive board to tie the game at 80 apiece.
Still having not trailed through the entirety of the game, the Knights went back up on a free throw by junior guard
Stephen Steyer (Staten Island, N.Y.). After getting the ball back again, Smith was good one one-of-two chances from the foul line to improve the lead to two points with 1:51 to go. After neither team was able to score for more than a minute, Sage had the ball with 10 seconds to play and a chance to tie once again. Deans managed to make a contested layup in the paint, tying the game at 82-82 to send it to another overtime.
Deans scored 27 points and grabbed 10 points to lead Sage with a double-double on Tuesday. Nwanna scored 18 points off the bench for the Gators, while McCray and Brett Ullman each contributed 10.
McDine tallied 18 points, including an 8-of-8 showing from the free-throw line, and dished out a game-high seven assists to pace the Knights. He also grabbed a game-high four steals. Four other Knights scored in the double-digits on Tuesday. Nocera was next with 16 points, then Smith with 15, Nicholson with 13 and Wolff with 12. Nocera and Smith matched for a team-best six boards.
Rebounding proved to be a big difference in the game, as the Gators held a 38-27 advantage, including 18 offensive boards. Those led to a 24-9 edge in points-off-turnovers in favor of the Gators, including the game-tying score at the end of regulation and buzzer-beater that ended the game.
The Knights now have one game left on their schedule, a Skyline Conference matchup at Purchase College on Thursday, Feb. 19. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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