The Owls (3-2) led 36-22 at halftime and appeared on their way to an easy win by taking a 60-45 lead after a three-pointer by Collier with 5:43 remaining in the game. The Golden Bears then went on an 11-0 run to pull within 60-56 following a free throw by junior center Malik Champlain (Norwich, CT) with 1:55 left, but couldn’t score the rest of the way. Junior guard Gavin Illangakoon (Ellington, CT) made a pair of charity shots with 12.9 seconds left to seal the win.
Freshman forward DJ Bonzagni (Milford, CT) had a double double for Western New England College (1-3) with 12 points and 10 rebounds while senior guard Jon Godbout (Bristol, CT) finished with 10 points.
AMHERST 80, SPRINGFIELD 74 – In the first game, sophomore point guard Andrew Olson (San Diego, CA) scored 18 points and dished out a tournament record 12 assists to lead Amherst College to a thrilling 80-74 victory over Springfield College. Junior forward Dan Wheeler (Bloomington, MN) contributed 11 points and six rebounds while senior guard John Bedford (Ridgewood, NJ) added 10 points for the Jeffs who remained unbeaten with a 3-0 record.
Amherst, ranked fourth nationally in the d3hoops.com poll, shot 59.4% from the field in the opening half to take a 44-28 half-time lead. Wheeler had eight of his points in the half while Olson tied the tournament mark in the first 20 minutes by handing out 10 assists.
Springfield came out strong after intermission going on a 16-3 run to pull within 47-44 following a lay-up by sophomore center Gregg Daly (Farmington, CT) with 13:43 remaining in the contest.
Amherst upped its lead to 73-61 on a basket by Olson at the 5:42 mark before the Pride came back again. Junior guard Anthony Pizzo (Clifton Park, NY) capped an 11-0 run with a basket to make the score 73-72 with 2:59 left. Sophomore forward Matt Goldsmith (Morristown, NJ) made a three-point play 38 seconds later for a four-point Jeffs lead before junior forward Damian Farley (Natick, MA) made a basket with 31 seconds left to bring Springfield within 76-74. Senior forward John Casnocha (San Francisco, CA) and Goldsmith each added two charity shots apiece in the final 27 seconds to complete the scoring.
Senior guard Derek Yvon (East Longmeadow, MA) led Springfield with 18 points while senior forward Mike DeCesar (Acton, MA) had 15 points and eight rebounds. The Pride (1-4) has lost its four games this season by a total of 12 points.