Box Score WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – A Monmouth shot in the waning seconds of overtime hit the side of the rim and Trevis Wyche (Neptune, N.J./Saint Peter's Prep) grabbed the rebound as time expired to lift Saint Peter's to a 62-61 victory in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) men's basketball action on Wednesday.
Wyche gave the Peacocks (9-9, 3-4 MAAC) the lead for good on a 3-pointer with 2:10 left in the extra session for a 58-57 advantage. Tyler Gaskins (Roswell, Ga./Centennial [Lawson State]) hit two free throws with 1:44 on the clock to increase the lead to three points. Andrew Nicholas and Desi Washington (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin [Delaware State]) traded charity tosses to maintain the three-point margin at 62-59. Justin Robinson hit two free throws to make it a one-point game with 52 seconds left.
After a Saint Peter's turnover, the Hawks (8-9, 5-2 MAAC) got the ball with 22.5 seconds left. Monmouth held the ball for the final 10 seconds and got the ball to Nicholas, who had a fade-away jumper from the left side hit off the rim and fall into the arms of Wyche to secure the victory.
The overtime thriller also saw a milestone for Washington. The senior, who scored his 1,000th- career point between Delaware State and Saint Peter's against Canisius on Jan. 4, 2013, reached the grand total in a Saint Peter's uniform after finishing the game with 21 points. The dramatic Washington, who hit four-game winning buzzer beaters last year, beat the shot clock buzzer from the far side on a fade away jumper with 3:18 left to become the 30th player in a Peacocks uniform to reach the mark and the first since Ryan Bacon in 2011.
Washington finished the game with his second 20-point performance of the season, registering most of his points at the foul line after hitting all 11 attempts from the charity stripe. The senior also had five rebounds, two assists and two steals. Wyche registered six points, six rebounds and a steal in the winning effort.
Robinson paced the Hawks with 21 points and Nicholas added 17 points off the bench in the loss.
After a rough first half for both teams, Saint Peter's grabbed the lead in the final six minutes of the game only to see Monmouth to rally to force overtime. Wyche gave the Peacocks the lead with a trey and then secured the victory with a rebound in the waning seconds to earn its fourth-straight win against the Hawks, including all three contests in league play.
After Nicholas tied the tilt at 40 on a jumper with 7:13 left, Wyche nailed a triple at 5:58 to give Saint Peter's a 43-40 lead. Washington increased the lead to six points on his first 3-pointer of the night at 5:30.
Max DiLeo momentarily halted the run with a layup at 4:40 before Washington hit two free throws at 4:10 and then increased the margin to eight points at 50-42 on a jumper as the shot clock was expiring for his 1,000th-point in a Saint Peter's uniform.
The Hawks then closed regulation by scoring 10 of the final 12 points to send the game into overtime. Robinson had seven points in the run and Brice Kofane tied the game with a layup with 16 seconds left.
The Peacocks had one last shot, but Marvin Dominique's (Miramar, Fla./Miramar [Fordham]) 3-pointer from the corner as time expired rimmed out to send the game to overtime where the Peacocks won its second game of the season in an extra session.
Saint Peter's started the first half 0-for-11, but there was only five points scored in the game before Chazz Patterson (Brown Mills, N.J./Trenton Catholic) broke the drought with a layup at the 10:42 mark. The Jersey City team then made eight of its final 11 attempts in the half.
Monmouth scored nine of the first 12 points on the night to take a 9-3 lead with 9:39 left in the half. Nicholas hit two treys and Robinson had two layups for the Hawks nine points.
The Peacocks then scored the next seven points to take its first lead of the game at 10-9. Jamel Fields (Albany, N.Y./Cheshire Academy [Fairfield]) drained a 3-pointer at 8:38 before Washington hit two free throws at 8:02 and Elias Desport (Stockholm, Sweden/Solna Gymnasium) scored in the lane at 5:57 to cap the spurt with 5:57 left in the opening half.
The two teams them battled back and forth for the remainder of the half before Gaskins hit his second triple in a two-minute span with 30.3 seconds left to send Saint Peter's into the locker room with a 23-22 lead.
Monmouth then grabbed a six-point lead in the second half with 14-minutes remaining after a DeLeo free throw. The Peacocks then scored the next six points on three free throws from Washington and a triple from Fields to even the game at 32 with 12:22 remaining.
Neither team could grab more than a three-point advantage over the next five minutes before Wyche and Washington hit consecutive 3-balls and Saint Peter's extended its margin eight points only to see the Hawks score 10 of the final 12 points to send the game to overtime where Wyche gave the Peacocks the lead for good on a trey and secure the win with a board in the closing seconds of overtime.
Gaskins finished the game with nine points and four rebounds. Fields had seven points and four rebounds. After starting the game 0-for-11, Saint Peter's made 18 of its final 39 shots from the field.
The Peacocks, who ended a two-game losing streak, won its first game of the season decided by three points or less. The squad started the year 0-4 in games decided by that margin, including two in league play.
After playing four of its first five in January on the road, Saint Peter's returns to the Yanitelli Center on Friday to host Manhattan on ESPN3. Tip off is 7 p.m. The two teams will be playing for the second time in nine days after the Jaspers downed the Peacocks 68-63 on Jan. 7. Saint Peter's will honor Washington prior to tip off.
