Fredericton, NB – The St. Thomas University Tommies and the Holland College Hurricanes played an instant classic in terms of Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association play, with the Hurricanes coming away victorious, 127-124 in overtime.
"I mean they made plays in overtime and we didn't," said Tommies' head coach, John Hickey following his team's loss.
Jalen Menzies led the way for the Hurricanes with 30 points and Logan Rempel chipped in with 25 off the bench, including 7/9 shooting from beyond the three-point arc. The Tommie countered with Geoff Lavoie (Ottawa, ON) scoring 30 points, while Almin Dervisevic (Ottawa, ON) had a triple double of 24 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds
The pace was set early by the Hurricanes when they opened up an eight-point lead in the first quarter, on their way to a 28-22 lead by the end of it. Menzies and Tommies' rookie Vincent Lyttleton (Markham, ON) would pace their teams in the opening frame. The pace of the game picked up, if you can believe it, in the second quarter, where the teams would combine for 68 points, and the Tommies would cut the Hurricanes lead to four, 61-57 at halftime.
"I thought all our guys were great," said Hickey of his team's effort on the night. "We were down three rotation guys tonight, so I thought we battled throughout the game."
The Tommies, needing to win by 14 to claim first place in the ACAA standings, came out gunning for that spot in the standings in the third quarter and would open up a three-point lead heading into the fourth. STU would open up an 11-point lead with less than four minutes left in the game, first place within reaching distance, but Menzies and Jashajaun Downey would carry the Hurricanes back within two points, and with 12 seconds left in the game Downey would make a pair of free throws to tie up the game.
Coach Hickey would call a timeout to draw up a play for the final possession, which would see Dervisevic get the ball on the inbound. He would dribble to the top of the key and as he attempted to go up for the shot, Hurricanes' defender, Bryce Corless, would strip him of the ball, sending the game to overtime.
"Did the ball go in," Hickey asked post game with wry smile when asked if the play was executed the way he wanted. "Ideally, we want the ball in our best guys' hands with some options in a situation like that. It just didn't work out."
Downey and Menzies would both score quickly into extra time and the Hurricanes wouldn't look back.
With the win the Hurricanes secured first seed, and the Tommies as the two seed. Both teams will get a first-round bye in the playoffs and will host playoff game Friday, March 11th.