Men's Basketball Loses In Overtime to Millersville, 76-73
Box Score
MILLERSVILLE, Pa. (Nov. 21, 2009)- The C.W. Post men's basketball team saw five players score in double figures, but a comeback minded Millersville University outlasted the Pioneers in their season opener as they handed C.W. Post a hard-fought 76-73 overtime loss on Saturday afternoon at Pucillo Gymnasium.
C.W. Post drops to 0-1, while Millersville improves to 2-0. The game marks the first regular season loss for the Pioneers since the 2007-08 season.
Gil Montalvo (Astoria, N.Y.) opened the game with a trey at 19:17, and the Pioneers quickly pushed to a 12-4 lead at 14:52 following a Nemanja Jokic (Bronx, N.Y.) three-pointer. However, the Marauders went on a 14-3 run that lasted until the 7:41 mark and saw the hosts take a 18-15 lead over the Pioneers after Brandon Widener converted two free throws.
Back-to-back baskets from Jokic and Montalvo gave the Pioneers the lead back, 19-18, and Montalvo's jumper at 4:43 extended the C.W. Post lead to 26-20, but Millersville continued to battle back, with Palmer McDurfree hitting two free throws with 28 seconds remaining in the half to tied the game at 31-31 heading into the break.
Millersville came out of the second half on fire, scoring the first nine points of the half and holding the Pioneers scoreless until 16:14, when junior guard Aaron Hall (Syracuse, N.Y.) slashed to the net for a layup, cutting the host advantage to 40-33.
C.W. Post continued to battle, and Hall again knocked down a jumper at 13:57, pulling the Pioneers to within one, 43-42.
Senior guard Roberto Macklin (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) drained a bucket at 12:43 that gave the Pioneers their first lead of the half, 44-42, and the game continued to be hard-fought for much of the second half as there were three ties and five lead changes, with neither team able to pull ahead by more than two points, until McDurfree knocked down two free throws at 4:37 to push the Marauders ahead, 55-51.
Two Blake free throws extended the lead to 57-51, but Montalvo swished a three-pointer at 3:28 to pull to 57-54. The teams traded baskets, then Jokic convered a three-point play at 1:32 to pull to within a basket, 61-59. Montalvo tied the game at 61-61 with a jumper at 1:06, a the Pioneers took a 63-61 lead with 18 seconds remaining after Montalvo found a wide open Jonathan Kohler (Bordentown, N.J.) for a layup.
But Blake, with just four seconds remaining, found a hole, as his layup tied the game at 63-63 and forced overtime.
Macklin hit 1-of-2 from the stripe to put the Pioneers up 64-63 17 seconds into overtime, and following a Nigel Davis free throw for Millersville making it 64-64, it was Macklin again as the senior hit a trey at 4:12 to put C.W. Post up 67-64.
The teams traded points as Kohler knocked down a basket and Jokic converted two free throws at 2:53 and gave C.W. Post a 71-68 lead.
The teams traded over a minute of scoreless play until the Marauders pulled to within one, 71-70, on a tip-in by Blake .
Millersville's Mike Seibert hit a trey with 32 seconds remaining in OT to put the Marauders up by 73-71, but C.W. Post quickly tied the game with a Manning lay-in.
With 18 seconds remaining, Blake hit two free throws to put Millersville on top, 75-73, and Montalvo's three point attempt with eight seconds remaining was off the mark as Millersville's Davis made 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to ice the game for the Marauders.
Jokic led the way with 18 points and eight rebounds for C.W. Post making 8-of-11 free throws and grabbing four steals. Montalvo scored 14 points and was 6-for-12 from the field, dishing out eight assists. Macklin added 12 points and seven boards, and Kohler and Hall each added 11 points apiece.
For Millersville, McDurfree and Blake each tallied 19 points and Davis added 17.
The Pioneers were hurt by turnovers, as they turned the ball over 31 times and Millersville took advantage, scoring 29 points off turnovers. The Pioneers scored 34 points in the paint and shot 42.2% (27-64) from the field, 22.2% (6-27) from behind the arc, and 65% (13-20) from the charity stripe.
Head coach Tim Cluess and the Pioneers are off for the next two weeks, and will take the court next on December 2, as they travel to Bridgeport for their East Coast Conference opener at 7 p.m.