CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Lesley University erased an 18-point deficit and came all the way back to earn a 72-70 double-overtime victory over Daniel Webster College in New England Collegiate Conference Men's Basketball action tonight at the Nicholas Athletics Center.
The win for the Lynx avenges a loss to the Eagles this past Tuesday to earn the season series split. Lesley, now winners of two in a row, improve to 4-14 overall and 3-6 in NECC play while DWC drops to 7-9 on the season and 4-3 in conference standings.
Once again the Lynx leaned on junior Devon Mayo (Newport News, Va.) who registered his second-straight game with more than 30 points. Mayo led all players with 33 points to go with five rebounds, two assists, and four steals. Senior Corbin Polec (Okemos, Mich.) added 12 points and seven boards while junior Pierre St. Simon (Farmingdale, N.Y.) chipped in with ten points and eight caroms. Fellow junior Terrell Toney (Lakewood, Wash.) came off the bench to supply nine points, five rebounds, and a pair of steals and senior Chris Barletta (Valrico, Fla.) finished with three points, five boards, five assists, and four steals.
Junior Rondell Best (Brockton, Mass.) paced the way for the Eagles, posting a double-double of 25 points and ten rebounds while classmate Ray Farmer (Nashua, N.H.) added 12 points and seven boards. Freshman Tevon Smallpiece (Dorchester, Mass.) and senior Ryan Gauthier (Nashua, N.H.) each poured in eight points and junior Jeremy Smith (Harvey, La.) corralled ten off the boards while blocking a game-best four shots.
DWC used a 19-2 run in the first half to build an 18-point lead, 33-15, with 2:34 to go before halftime. The Lynx would cut into that deficit with as Mayo carried the offense to a 7-0 spurt before the half and would head into the locker room trailing 33-22.
After the break, the Eagles would push their lead back to 18 over the first five minutes of play. The Lynx would chip away and trailed 53-41 with 8:51 to go in regulation before a Mayo triple ignited an 11-1 streak capped by a St. Simon layup over the next 4:14.
Another Mayo trey with 1:10 left on the clock brought the Lynx to within one, 59-58, before the Lynx gained their first lead of the game with a driving layup by Barletta on Lesley's next possession.
Best would knock down a free throw with 25-seconds left to even the game at 60-60 and neither team would score down the stretch as the game would head into overtime.
The Lynx held a one point edge with under a minute to play in the first overtime before Farm would hit on one-of-two from the charity stripe with 30-ticks to go, but each side would miss a three pointer on their final possessions to force a second overtime.
Neither team could spark any offense over the opening 2:27 of play until St. Simon finished a put-back and Barletta hit a free throw the next time down the court to give the hosts a three point edge with 1:37 to go. DWC would cut the lead to one with a Farmer layup, but that would be as close as the Eagles would get as Mayo knocked down a free throw with two seconds on the clock to complete the comeback win.
The Lynx struggled from the field, hitting on just 30% (20-of-67) of their shots from the floor, but used 15 offensive rebounds to provide 22 second chance points while turning 21 Eagles turnovers into 23 points. The Eagles shot 43% (25-of-58) on the day while holding a 51-42 edge in rebounding over the Lynx.
Lesley will look to make it three straight wins on Tuesday when they hit the road to Regis College at 6:00p. DWC will return to Nashua on Tuesday and kickoff a brief two-game homestand when they host Elms College at 7:30p.