Middletown, Conn. - The sixth seed Colby Men's Basketball team took to the road Saturday afternoon for a quarterfinals playoff matchup against defending NESCAC champions and three seed Wesleyan University. Earlier during the regular season, Colby fell to the Cardinals at home 59-79.
Although the Mules shot 33% in the first half, Colby went into the break only down seven giving them plenty of time recover. The combination of second-chance points and bench points in the first half gave the Mules a 21 to eight point swing keeping them in the game. Colby came out firing in the second half taking the Cardinals by surprise as they knocked down 62% of their shoots. Late in regulation with only 13 seconds remaining and after closing a Wesleyan ten point advantage,
Noah Tyson hit two clutch free throws narrowing the Cardinals lead to just two. Off the Wesleyan in-bound pass,
Max Poulton grabbed a key steal resulting in a Tyson layup with nine seconds to go evening the score at 72 a piece and forcing overtime.
In extra time, the teams stayed neck and neck. With only 13 second remaining and Colby up one, Tyson hit a free throw to give the Mules a two point cushion. In the end, Wesleyan held on to the ball for the final shot trying to knock down a three and steal the win but the ball came up short leading to the Colby victory 82-80.
Colby's bench scoring (25 points to the Cardinals eight) was a key factor, with
Lucas Green tying Tyson for a team-high 22 points.
Will King contributed a double-double with 11 points and 12 assists as
Jack Lawson led the Mules with 11 rebounds and four blocks.
Colby improves to 19-6 on the season and will head to top-seed Williams Saturday February 25th for a 2:00pm NESCAC semifinals matchup. This will mark the first time the two teams have met in the NESCAC Tournament. During the regular season, the Ephs earned a 79-70 win over the Mules in Williamstown, Mass. on January 13. In that game, Poulton dropped a season-high 27 points grabbing seven rebounds as Lawson finished with 13 points and King with 10 points.
CLICK HERE for the NESCAC Championship Central webpage to learn more about the remaining four teams.
