CHEYNEY, Pa. -Cheyney University made all 11 of its free-throw attempts in overtime, and
Khaalis Carter came off the bench to score a career-high 24 points as the Wolves picked up their first PSAC victory of the season 68-65 over visiting Millersville University Wednesday night inside Alfred Cope Hall.
Carter started the over time by being fouled on a three-pointer and sinking all-three shots, to give the Wolves (2-7, 1-5 PSAC East) the lead for good.
Lakeem Duncan, who went 11-of-13 from the line for the game, was 6-for-6 in the overtime and finished with 17 points.
Carter was perfect in the first half going 7-for-7 from the field including 4-of-4 from beyond the arc for a total of 18-points as the Wolves held a 34-29 lead after the first 20-minutes.
Carter opened the second half by connecting on his fifth three pointer, to push the lead to eight at 37-29, but the Millersville (2-8, 2-5 PSAC East) defense paid extra attention to the freshman who was unable to get off another shot the rest of the second half.
Cheyney held a 39-34 lead when senior
Eugene Lett keyed a 9-3 run to expand the advantage to 11 at 48-37 with 8:53 to play.
Lett started the run with two free-throws,
Michael Oyefusi made two more from the charity stripe, then after a three-pointer by Tommy Patterson for the Marauders, Lett stepped to the line for two more and capped the run with a three-pointer to give the Wolves their largest lead of the game.
Millersville would not go away, as per usual as eight of the last ten match-ups between the schools have been decided by single digits with the last three going to overtime.The Marauders captured both games a season ago after leveling each game in the final seconds to force an extra session.
Millersville cut the Cheyney edge to two by scoring the next nine points, seven coming from the line, making it a 48-46 contest with 4:58 to play.
Duncan made two free-throws, but Millersville responded with a six-point run to take the lead 52-50 with 3:09 remaining in the second half.
The Wolves regained the advantage with a five-point run of its own and led 55-52 after a
Mecheal Greene layup, but Patterson connected on a three from the corner to knot the game at 55-55 with 22 seconds remaining.
Cheyney held the ball, but a shot was blocked with four seconds left by the Marauders Derek Weglinski who gathered the ball and drove to the basket, but his shot would not fall as time expired to force the overtime with the game tied at 55-55.
The Wolves built a six point lead with 50 seconds left on the clock, when Ryan Beck made a three to cut the lead in half at 62-59.
Imir Bailey converted a pass in the lane from Duncan as the shot clock was expiring to push the lead to five, but Ricky Mosley hit a three to cut the Marauders deficit to two at 64-62 with eight seconds left.
Lett calmly stepped to the line and drained two free-throws, but Scott Slade made it a one-point ball-game once again as he connected from beyond the arc with four seconds left.
Duncan was fouled and he finished off the scoring with two more made free-throws, to provide the final score of 68-65.
Lett finished with nine points and a team-high three assists and four steals, Duncan added four rebounds, three steals and an assist to go with his 17-point performance.
Dikemba Amugo pulled down a team-best seven rebounds, to go with six points and two blocks, Bailey came off the bench to grab six boards and Carter finished with five rebounds and two steals along with his career-high 24 points.
Shawn Williams led the Marauders with 20 points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished out a game-high six assists. Mosley had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Cheyney heads to East Stroudsburg for another PSAC East battle with the Warriors on Saturday Dec. 19, to close out 2015, with the tip-off scheduled for 3:00 p.m.