DANBURY, Conn. - After trailing by 10 points at halftime, the second-seeded Western Connecticut State University men's basketball team staged a furious comeback to down visiting third-seeded Rhode Island College, 81-68, in overtime of the Little East Conference Championship Tournament semifinal round at Feldman Arena on Thursday night. The Wolves outscored the Anchormen, 18-5, in the extra session, advancing to the LEC title game on Saturday afternoon.
Senior forward
Cameron Gallon (York, Pa.) paced the hosts with 16 points and nine rebounds while junior guard
Jahlyl Morgan (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) chipped in with 15 points. Senior forward
Jourdan Belcher (Elmsford, N.Y.) provided a punch with nine points, five boards and a season-high five blocked shots.
Dwayne Robinson-O'Hagan led the visitors with a game-high 19 points, while Ousmane Kourouma and Cam Wilson netted 12 apiece. Kourouma also earned a double-double, pulling down a game-high 15 off the glass.
The Wolves got off to a sluggish start as they fell behind by as many as 16 points in the first half. Robinson-O'Hagan converted a hoop in the paint giving RIC a 31-15 lead with 5:06 to go before halftime. WestConn was able to shrink the gap to seven shortly before the break when senior guard
Keeshawn Jones (Middletown, N.Y.) sank a pair of free throw attempts. They would trail 36-26 at halftime.
The WestConn rally began early in the second stanza. Junior forward
Nick Boyce (Jamaica, N.Y.) sliced the deficit to 39-37 when he stole the ball and raced down the floor for a layup. However, the Anchormen wouldn't relinquish the advantage and built it back up to a 10-point lead midway through the period courtesy of a midrange jumper. But the Wolves stayed poised and continued trimming the lead until eventually deadlocking the count at 63-63 when Gallon sank a pair from the stripe with 21 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime.
It was all Wolves in the extra session as they reeled off the 18-5 barrage. Morgan broke the ice with a pair of free throws before senior guard
Jeremiah Williams (Brooklyn, N.Y) canned yet another shot from the charity stripe. WestConn nailed 36-of-48 shots from the line, while RIC managed just 11-of-23.
With the victory, the Wolves earned their 10th straight win, improving to 18-8 overall while the Anchormen's season came to an abrupt ending at 16-11. Westconn will head to top-seeded Keene State College for the championship matchup on Saturday afternoon. Keene breezed past fourth-seeded UMass Boston in the other semfinal contest on Thursday. The Wolves edged the Owls in their last regular season matchup earlier this month and will be seeking to avenge their last two title game losses, both suffered to Keene State. The winner will earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Championship Tournament.
