Wells Wins on Buzzer Beater

Chris Courtney hit a jumper with 0.6 seconds left to lift Wells College to a 74-72 victory in an afternoon affair on Wednesday. The Pioneers had tied the game with 10.1 seconds left on a three-pointer by Tyrone Davis (Brooklyn/Benajmin Banneker).

Wells jumped out to an early 9-4 lead before the Pioneers outscored the Express 38 to 20 over the next fifteen minutes. The blue & gold went into halftime with a 42-31 lead.

The Express picked up their intensity in the 2nd half and started to cut into the lead. With 5:34 remaining Rich Ross hit a layup to give Wells their first lead, 61-60, since the early going of the game. After a couple lead changes, Davis gave the Pioneers a 69-67 lead with a jumper just outside the paint. Ross answered by hitting a three-pointer and then Courtney added to the lead, 72-69, by hitting a pair of foul shots.

After a missed three-point attempt, the Pioneers grabbed the offensive rebound and Juwan Toliver (Buffalo/McKinley) found Davis who hit the game-tying three with 10.1 seconds remaining. After an Alfred State timeout and with the time ticking away, Courtney hit the game winner. The Pioneers last second pass went out of bounds as the horn sounded.

Marquis Edwards (Queens/In-Tech Academy) led all Pioneer scorers with 25 points and nine boards. Justin Wallace (Mt. Vernon/Mt. St. Michael) added 13 and Sayquan Chambers (Queens/Richmond Hill) chipped in 10. 50 of the Pioneers 72 points came from the bench in the contest. Davis finished the night with seven points and 10 assists.

Ross recorded a double-double to lead Wells (9-4). He led all scorers with 31 points and added 10 boards. Courtney finished with 20.

The Pioneers shot 43.9% from the field, hit 8 of 21 three-point attempts, and were 6 for 10 from the foul line while the Express shot 40.6% from the field, hit 11 of 35 three-point attempts, and were 11 for 15 from the foul line. The Pioneers held a slight 40 to 39 rebounding advantage.

The Pioneers hit the road again this weekend for a pair of games. They battle Pratt on Friday and Berkeley on Saturday.