WORCESTER, Mass. – Senior Tyler Huffman's (West Hartford, Conn.) two free throws with 3:15 remaining in the second overtime gave the Clark University men's basketball team a lead it would not relinquish as the Cougars outlasted Wentworth Institute of Technology, 99-94, in the opening day of the 2015 Clark Alumni Holiday Basketball Invitational.
The Cougars snap an eight-game losing streak and improve to 2-8 on the season while the Leopards, who were playing in their first double overtime game since March 3, 2011, fall to 4-5. Wentworth received career highs from both sophomore Jason Ganley (Northbridge, Mass.) and senior Kyle Romich (Groton, Mass.) as the duo tallied 30 and 29 points, respectively.
Wentworth turned a 2-0 deficit into a 9-2 lead, thanks to six points from Ganley and three from Romich and extended its lead to 13-4 on a sophomore Sam Knollmeyer (Hampton, N.H.) trifecta with 13:28 left in the opening frame. Clark trimmed the lead to three (16-13) with 10:40 left thanks in part to five points from junior David Mercier (Milford, Mass.). Consecutive jumpers from Romich and a three from Ganley extended the lead to 23-17, however the Cougars would pull within a pair at 23-21.
Romich upped the Leopards' lead with a basket with 5:13 left and held a 33-29 lead with 1:30 left after Ganley's two free throws. However, the Cougars got a jumper from freshman Brendan Kitteridge (Clinton, Mass.) with 1:06 left and junior Lamar Berk (Saint Augustine, Fla.) hit a pair of free throws with a second left to knot the game at 33-all.
The two teams went back and forth for the first five minutes of the second half with Romich tying the game at 41-all. Mercier hit one of two free throws to give the hosts a 42-41 on the next possession before a 7-0 Wentworth run – fueled by four points from Ganley and three from Knollmeyer – gave Wentworth a six-point lead with just under 14:00 left.
A 14-3 Clark run would give the Cougars a 56-51 lead with 7:58 remaining in the half and the hosts maintained the lead until Ganley scored five straight points and Knollmeyer knocked down a three with 2:48 left to put the Black & Gold on top, 67-66, with 2:48 to play in regulation.
The Cougars scored the next four points to lead, 70-67, with 29 ticks left. Two free throws from Romich made it a one-point game with 27 seconds left, however Berk nailed two free throws with 19 seconds left to extend the lead to three. With nine seconds left, Knollmeyer found Romich just to the right of the Leopard bench to drain the game-tying three. Clark had a chance to win the game, however the attempt was blocked, sending the contest to overtime.
Neither team would have more than a three-point lead in the first overtime as the period featured four ties and just one lead change. Ganley broke an 80-all tie with a free throw with 39 seconds left and Romich extended the lead to three with two more free throws with 7.4 seconds remaining. However, after a time out, Huffman nailed a three from just behind the line as the buzzer sounded to send the game to a second overtime period.
In the second overtime, Ganley gave Wentworth an 85-83 lead with a layup 16 seconds into the frame but Clark scored the next three points to take an 86-85 lead as sophomore John Pisacreta (Andover, Mass.) hit one of two free throws and Huffman hit a jumper. Sophomore Ben Kizel (Short Hills, N.J.) briefly gave the Leopards with a jumper of his own the lead before Huffman's two free throws would give Clark the lead for good.
Huffman's two free throws began a 7-0 run which gave Clark a 93-87 lead. Romich ended the run with a three with 56 seconds left, however that would be as close as the Leopards would come as the Cougars would hit seven of eight free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
Ganley was 9-for-16 from the floor and 11-for-13 form the free throw line while also dishing out three assists. Romich 11-for-18 from the floor, including 3-of-8 from behind the arc, grabbed seven rebounds, and had four assists. Knollmeyer added 15 points and four assists while senior Ian Therriault (Auburn, Maine) had eight points, eight rebounds, and six assists. Wentworth shot 53.3 percent (32-for-60) from the floor, which included 12-for-27 from behind the arc.
Five players scored in double figures for Clark, including Mercier who led the Cougars with 21. Freshman Luca McCormick (Bradenton, Fla.) scored 20, Pisacreta had 13, Huffman scored 12, and Berk added 10. Clark had a 44-32 rebounding advantage.
Day two of the tournament sees Wentworth playing Worcester State on Wednesday at Noon and Clark playing Roger Williams at 2:00.
August 20, 2016
Romich, McLaughlin Earn Senior Scholar-Athlete Awards
August 1, 2016
Romich Earns Spot on NABC Honors Court
February 23, 2016
Men's Basketball Upset by UNE in CCC Quarterfinals
February 22, 2016
Romich Notches Third Player of the Week Honor
February 22, 2016
Romich, Ganley, Galloway Take Home CCC Honors
February 21, 2016
Men's Basketball Set to Host UNE in CCC Quarterfinals
February 20, 2016
Men's Basketball Downs Roger Williams, Earns Number Two Seed
February 16, 2016
Ganley's Heroics Lift Men's Basketball Past Endicott
February 13, 2016
Men's Basketball Sneaks Past Salve Regina
February 11, 2016
Academic All-District Honors Bestowed on Romich
February 10, 2016
Romich's Late Basket Lifts Men's Basketball Past Gordon
February 6, 2016
Eastern Nazarene Fends Off Late Men's Basketball Rally
February 2, 2016
Men's Basketball Streak Snapped by Western New England
January 30, 2016
Men's Basketball Rolls Past Curry for Second Straight Win
January 27, 2016
D3Hoops.com, ECAC Honor Ganley With Weekly Honors
January 27, 2016
Men's Basketball Cruises Past UNE
January 25, 2016
Ganley Named CCC Player of the Week
January 23, 2016
Strong Second Half Lifts Nichols Past Men's Basketball
January 18, 2016
Romich Earns CCC Player of the Week Honors
January 16, 2016
DeVaux's Hot Shooting Helps Men's Basketball to Second Straight Win
January 14, 2016
Men's Basketball Fends Off Late Endicott Charge
January 9, 2016
Fast Start Helps Roger Williams Get Past Men's Basketball
January 7, 2016
Strong Second Half Lifts Men's Basketball Past Eastern Nazarene
January 5, 2016
Men's Basketball Gets Back on Winning Track
December 30, 2015
Worcester State Pulls Away From Men's Basketball
December 29, 2015
Men's Basketball Outlasted by Clark
December 12, 2015
Balanced Attack Lifts Men's Basketball to Second Straight Win
December 8, 2015
Men's Basketball Rallies Past Curry
December 7, 2015
Romich Named CCC Player of the Week
December 5, 2015
Nichols Holds on to Defeat Men's Basketball
November 21, 2015
Strong First Half Pushes Tufts Past Men's Basketball
November 17, 2015
Men's Basketball Falls at Northeastern
November 14, 2015
Romich, Knollmeyer Pace Men's Basketball Past Emmanuel
November 13, 2015
Men's Basketball Picked Fourth in CCC Preseason Poll
November 13, 2015
Men's Basketball Edged in Season Opener
September 23, 2015
Men's Basketball Completes Schedule With Game at Northeastern