DOVER, Del. - Wesley College's Darrell Johnson (New Castle, Del./Howard) hit a shot at the buzzer as the Wolverines defeated Marymount (Va.) 64-63.
Not only did the shot lift Wesley (16-6, 12-1 CAC) to the victory, it extended the team's win streak to a school record tying 11 games. The big shot, coupled with a 61-58 upset by Salisbury over St. Mary's (Md.), moved the Wolveirnes into first place in the Capital Athletic Conference standings.
Just four tenths of a second of game time earlier, Wesley's winning streak was on the ropes. Stephen Simoneau had inbounded the ball to John Magnani, who caught the ball in mid air and sank a jumper that put the Saints (4-18, 2-11 CAC) ahead 63-62 with just 1.3 seconds to play.
The Wolverines called timeout and on the inbounds play, a full court pass was tipped out of bounds, leaving just 0.9 seconds on the clock. Wesley called timeout to set up a play, but the Marymount defense blanketed the Wolverines, who were forced to call yet another timeout to avoid a five second call.
Rudy Thomas (Milton, Del./Sussex Tech), inbounding the ball from the right wing, sent a cross court pass over the defense to Johnson, who caught the ball and released a shot from just inside the arc on the left wing. The shot was good, denying the Saints the upset.
Wesley had a five point lead with just 1:43 to go after a bucket by Paul Reynolds (Smyrna, Del./Smyrna), 62-57, but Marymount used a put back by Reed Scott and a lay up by Simoneau to cut it to one with 34 seconds left.
The Saints let 24 seconds run off the clock before fouling, but Kevin Johnson (Smyrna, Del./Smyrna) missed the front end of a one and one and Scott cleared the rebound for Marymount to set up the dramatic finish.
In the first half, a three-point play by Kevin Johnson erased a Saint lead and sent Wesley into the locker room ahead 31-29.
A jumper by Tarek Ammoury on the first possession of the second half tied the game, but the Wolverines went on a 15-4 run that gave Wesley a 46-35 lead with 12:38 left in the game. Wesley still led by 11 with 9:39 to play, 53-42, but a three by Simoneau started a slow, but steady comeback by the Saints.
Kevin Johnson went 7-of-11 shooting to finish with a team-high 17 points for the Wolverines. Reynods hit 7-of-12 field goals and finished his night with 14 points. Darrell Johnson was the third Wolverine in double digits after his buzzer beater gave him 10 on the evening.
Reynolds, Thomas and Sean McAndrew (Lanoka Harbor, N.J./Lacey Township) each had three steals.
Magnani led Marymount with 17 points and 13 rebounds. The big man hit 8-of-14 field goals and also blocked three shots. Mac Kennedy added 13 points and seven boards, while Scott netted 10 points and cleared eight rebounds.
Wesley travels to St. Mary's (Md.) for a key battle in the race for the top seed in the CAC Men's Basketball Championship on Saturday, February 12.