Dagostino Leads Saint Rose to 4OT Marathon Win Over Philadelphia U., 85-75
WALTHAM, Mass. – Senior guard Steve Dagostino (Schenectady, N.Y.) scored a career-high 37 points to lead Saint Rose to an marathon four-overtime 85-75 win over Philadelphia University on Saturday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Northeast Regionals at the Dana Center.
The game was only the third four-overtime contest in tournament history and the first since Sacred Heart went the distance to hold off Assumption, 113-108, in 1983. Assumption was in the building for this contest as well, waiting to take the court for their win over Holy Family, setting up a meeting with the third-seeded Golden Knights (23-7) in tomorrow’s regional semifinals. The sixth-seeded Rams ended their season with a 22-12 record.
Philadelphia jumped out to a quick 11-7 lead on a three-pointer from sophomore guard Russell Frederick (Joppa, Md.) and held a 23-19 margin with 5:42 remaining in the opening half. Saint Rose then used a 7-3 spurt capped off by a layup by Dagostino to tie the game for the first time since the opening tip with 1:30 to go before halftime. Dagostino converted a four-point play with 1.5 seconds left in the first half to give the Golden Knights a 30-28 lead at the half.
The Rams came out strong again in the second half, opening with an 11-1 run that was fueled by sophomore forward Malcolm Ingram (Philadelphia), who scored six straight points to give Philadelphia a 39-31 lead with 15:10 left. It remained an eight-point lead for the Rams with 5:13 to go after Philadelphia sophomore forward Mike Yocum (Dresher, Pa.) hit a jumper from the right elbow to give the Rams a 51-43 edge. Saint Rose battled back, with senior guard Will Monica (Great Falls, Va.) converting a three-point play for his first points of the afternoon that ignited an 8-0 run. Sophomore guard Jermaine Clark (Perth Amboy, N.J.) found Dagostino for a fastbreak layup after stealing the ball at mid-court and then buried a trey from the left corner to draw the Golden Knights back even, 51-51, and foreshadow overtime as only a pair of free throws were exchanged over the final 3:40 of regulation.
Dagostino opened the first extra frame with a three-point field goal, but a jumper by Yocum and a layup from junior guard Mike Dunn (Harrisburg, Pa.) on back-to-back possessions gave the Rams a 56-55 lead. Two free throws by Dagostino were answered by one from Ingram to even the score at 57 after the first overtime. Clark took a shot at a game-winning three for the Golden Knights as time expired, but was defended by Dunn and the shot didn’t go.
Yocum opened the second overtime with a layup, but Saint Rose came right back with a pair of free throws from freshman Ben Johnson (Pictou County, Nova Scotia). Ingram hit a jumper to give the Rams a two-point lead, but junior forward Evan Lane (Sharon Springs, N.Y.) answered with a layup to even the score again and it was all free throws over the last three minutes to leave the score level at 65 after the second extra session.
The Golden Knights struck first in the third OT with a three-pointer from Dagostino, but four straight points from sophomore Marcus Lemon (Alexandria, Va.) gave Philadelphia a one-point edge. Dagostino hit all three free throws after he was fouled beyond the arc with 1:02 on the clock, but a layup from Ingram with 40 ticks to go made it 73-73 after 55 minutes of basketball.
In the fourth overtime, Saint Rose pulled away with a 12-2 run to put the game away. Clark got the Golden Knights off and running with a three-pointer to take the lead for good. Dagostino scored the final six points of the game from the stripe to lift Saint Rose into the regional semifinals for the second straight season.
Ingram played all 60 minutes of the game and led the Rams with 26 points in defeat, while Yocum recorded a double-double with 11 points and 21 rebounds. Lane posted a double-double for the Golden Knights with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Each team shot just 33.3 percent from the field in the four overtime sessions, although Philadelphia was at 40.7 percent for the game, while Saint Rose shot 34.2 percent.
At Waltham, Mass. (Dana Center)
ST. ROSE 85, PHILADELPHIA 75
PHILADELPHIA (22-12)
Malcolm Ingram 8-14 10-15 26; Marcus Lemon 3-5 4-6 12; Mike Dunn 4-9 0-0 11; Mike Yocum 4-13 3-4 11; Russell Frederick 4-11 0-3 11; Jason Hickenbottom 1-5 1-3 4; Maurice Martin 0-0 0-0 0; Marcel Modeste 0-0 0-0 0; Carroll Mitchell 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 24-59 18-31 75.
ST. ROSE (23-7)
Steve Dagostino 8-25 15-16 37; Evan Lane 5-10 4-4 14; Jermaine Clark 5-15 0-0 14; Shanty Robinson 4-8 2-3 10; Will Monica 1-9 1-1 3; Ben Johnson 0-2 3-4 3; Malcolm Williams 1-3 0-0 2; Josh Pelletier 1-1 0-0 2; Rob Gutierrez 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-73 25-28 85.
Halftime: SR 30-28; Regulation: 52-52; 1st-OT: 57-57; 2nd OT: 65-65; 3rd OT: 73-73; 3-point goals--P 9-23 (Dunn 3-8; Frederick 3-7; Lemon 2-4; Hickenbottom 1-3; Mitchell 0-1), SR 10-31 (Dagostino 6-14; Clark 4-11; Monica 0-4; Johnson 0-2). Fouled out--P- Yocum, Frederick, Lemon, Hickenbottom, SR- Williams, Robinson, Monica. Rebounds--P 51 (Yocum 21), SR 40 (Lane 11). Assists--P 17 (Hickenbottom 4), SR 8 (Dagostino 3). Total fouls--P 28, SR 23. Technical fouls-- None.