Box Score SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.-- The Skidmore College men's basketball team threw all it had at #23 Babson College Saturday, but the Beavers didn't break, managing a 75-74 overtime win in front of a vocal crowd at the Williamson Center.
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The Thoroughbreds (2-1) loose for the first time this season, while Babson improves to 3-1.
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It appeared Skidmore had the game won in regulation, but the Beavers found a way to tie it.
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Babson's John Wickey missed a three-pointer with less than two seconds left and the Thoroughbreds up 66-64. The ball rattled around on the floor as the clock ran down, but Skidmore's Preun Kovacevic was called for a foul on the rebound with .06 seconds on the clock.
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David Mack missed the first free throw and then missed the second on purpose. The second shot appeared to miss the rim, but Joe Flannery got the offensive rebound and put back at the buzzer to tie it. After a long discussion, the officials ruled the free throw hit the rim and Flannery's basket good to force overtime.
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There were five lead changes and four ties in the overtime.
Aldin Medunjanin hit a pair of free throws with 43.8 seconds left in overtime to give Skidmore a 74-73 lead. Wickey converted an offensive rebound off his own blocked shot with 16 seconds to play to put the Beavers in front for good 75-74. Â
Erik Sanders just missed a difficult 24-foot three-point attempt with one second left for the Thoroughbreds.
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Medunjanin and
Connor Merrill led the Thoroughbreds with 17 points each. Merrill added 12 rebounds and two blocked shots. Sanders finished with 16 points and Kovacevic scored 10 points and had nine rebounds.
Royce Paris had eight points and a team-high four assists.
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Flannery led Babson with 31 points and 12 rebounds. He hit 12 of 17 free throws and scored six of the Beavers' nine overtime points. Wickey contributed 15 points and Matthew Droney had 14 points and three steals off the bench.
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The teams were whistled for a combined 48 fouls. Skidmore was 19-29 from the line, while Babson hit 24 of 36 free throws, including 11 of 14 in the first half.
" I'm really proud of the effort by our guys," said Skidmore coach
Joe Burke. "When two good teams get together, this is the kind of game you want and I think everyone got their moneys worth tonight.
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"Obviously, I am disappointed in the result. Sometimes you just need you need to make a few more plays so that you can dictate the ending. Unfortunately, we caught a couple bad breaks at the end and Babson was able to take advantage of it. We need to forget about it and move on. We have another really good team in Plattsburgh to deal with on Monday night."
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Skidmore is back in action Monday night at home against Plattsburgh State at 7p.m. Babson will host Becker College on Tuesday.
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