Oakdale, N.Y. - Marcus Henderson's three pointer with :07 seconds left led the St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team to a thrilling 84-81 overtime victory over No. 1 seed Dowling College in the East Coast Conference Tournament semi-finals. The Spartans face No. 2 Bridgeport for the ECC Title on Sunday. STAC improves to 15-13 with the upset, with Dowling dropping to 22-7.
For STAC coach Tobin Anderson, the game marked his 15th win for St. Thomas Aquinas, but his 200th overall as a head coach.
After eight days between games, Dowling showed signs of rust early while the Spartans came out like a well-oiled machine. Kellman had six early points and Chaz Watler struck for five as STAC stormed to a stunning 19-8 lead after just over five minutes of play.
Undeterred, the hosts found their rhythm as Dowling took less than four minutes to erase the deficit with a 12-0 run, taking a 20-19 lead. While the Spartans settled down, retaking the lead at 29-28 on an Alushula Odongo hoop, the Golden Lions appeared to take charge with a 12-4 run, giving them their biggest lead at 40-33.
Now it was the visitors' turn to answer the bell, and the Spartans came back swinging. Watler converted a jumper and Aaron Cust nailed a trey to cut the deficit to two. With the half winding down, Sam Wilson was fouled while shooting from beyond the ark, and sank all three foul shots to send the upstart STAC squad into the half with a 41-41 tie.
Half number two took on the look of STAC's fierce tussle at LIU-Post Wednesday, with the lead changing hands several times and neither team able to wrest control. Aaron Cust gave the Spartans a 46-43 lead on a three pointer, but Dowling came back grabbing a 49-46 advantage on a Justin Alexander trey with 16:23 left.
Dowling led 65-62 on a pair of Justin Alexander free throws, only to see Marcus Henderson hit from downtown moments later to put the Spartans back on top, 66-65 with 6:11 left. Corwin Austin hit three straight foul shots to put the Golden Lions ahead, and so went the battle.
A wild exchange of baskets left Dowling with a 73-70 lead with under a minute left in regulation. Henderson hit a pair of free throws with :52 left to trim the mark to one point, and six seconds later Alexander was fouled and converted one of two. Aaron Cust hit the game tying lay-up with 20 seconds left and a Darien Davis three at the buzzer was off the mark, sending the contest to extra time.
In the previous meeting of these teams, on February 14 at Dowling, the Spartans missed a late chance to grab victory, only to see the Golden Lions dominate the overtime session. This time St. Thomas Aquinas was ready, with Sam Wilson breaking the seal early to put STAC on top.
The game would be tied on two more occasions before two foul shots from Kellman and another from Henderson gave STAC an 81-78 lead with 1:29 left. Davis made two foul shots with 1:06 left and after a Henderson miss, Davis was sent to the line again. This time he hit the first shot but made the second, leaving the score tied at 81-81 with 39 seconds to play.
With both the shot and the game clocks winding down and a second OT looming, Henderson took the ball and, after a dribbling exhibition, fired an off-balance shot from well beyond the top left of the arc that found nothing but net. Dowling and STAC exchanged a series of time-outs with 1.6 seconds remaining, and the hosts' desperation attempt was off the mark.
Kellman led all scorers with 21 points, with Henderson adding 20 for the Spartans. Cust posted 16 and Watler 13 for the victorious Spartans. Davis led five scorers in double-figures for Dowling with 20 points, with Austin (17), Taylor (14), Alexander (11) and Jerrell Harris (10) contributing.
St. Thomas Aquinas will now make its first ever appearance in the East Coast Conference men's basketball Tournament Finals, traveling to face No. 2 seed University of Bridgeport at Harvey Hubbel Gymnasium on Sunday, March 9, in a 1:00 pm tip-off. Bridgeport advanced with a 79-75 win over No. 3 Molloy College on Friday night.
The winner of Sunday's Championship Game will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Divsion II Men's Basketball Tournament.
Provided by the St. Thomas Aquinas Sports Information Department.
