Breslin Scores Career-High 33 Points In Win

ALLENTOWN, PA – Senior guard Kevin Breslin (Hagerstown, MD/St. Maria Goretti) scored 12 of his career-high 33 points in overtime as visiting Washington College topped host Muhlenberg in overtime, 96-93, at Memorial Hall on Saturday afternoon in Centennial Conference men's basketball action.  The win for Washington is the first road win against Muhlenberg in conference play and the first road win over the Mules since an 83-73 win on November 18, 1989 at Memorial Hall.  The Shoremen, who snapped an 18-game losing streak on the road to the Mules, improve to 3-3 overall and 1-2 in the conference, while Muhlenberg drops to 6-2 and 1-2 respectively.

With 23.1 seconds left in the second half and WC up 77-76, junior forward Tony Hawkins (Mt. Ephraim, NJ/Haddon Township) was fouled and drained both free throws give Washington a 79-76 lead.  On Muhlenberg's next possession, Austin Curry sank a three-pointer to tie the game at 79-79 with seven seconds left in regulation.  The Shoremen's last shot of regulation was off the mark and the game went to overtime tied at 79-79.

In overtime, Spencer Liddic scored the opening bucket of overtime just 16 seconds in to put Muhlenberg up 81-79.  On WC's first possession of the extra session, Breslin was fouled and made both free throws to tie the game up at 81-81 with 4:16 remaining.  After a miss by WC, Breslin put the Shoremen back in front, 83-81, with a jumper with 3:32 to go in overtime after he stole the ball.  Senior guard Sal Schittino (Ellicott City, MD/Loyola Blakefield) would push the WC lead to four points at 85-81 when he canned a jumper with 2:58 to go.  Muhlenberg answered with a traditional three point-play as AJ Dean scored on a layup and drew the foul and made his free throw to cut the Shoremen lead to 85-84 with 2:42 to go.  Breslin would answer with a layup 10 seconds later to make it 87-84.  Malique Killing of Muhlenberg made one of two free throws to trim the lead to 87-85 with 2:18 left.  On WC's next possession, Curry stole the ball and Killing was fouled.  Killing would sink one of two from the line to cut it to 87-86 with 2:03 to go.  Breslin would score on a jumper with 1:52 to go and pushed the lead back to three at 89-86, but the Mules would respond 16 seconds later on a Dean bucket to cut the lead back to one, 89-88.  Senior forward Adam Naymick (Hanover, PA/Delone Catholic) scored to put WC back up three, 91-88, and Muhlenberg turned it over on its next possession.  But WC turned it over on its nex possession and the Mules got the ball back with 44 seconds left.  Killing would miss the layup and Hawkins got the rebound and found Breslin, who was fouled.  Breslin made both from the charity stripe with 25 seconds to go to give Washington a 93-88 cushion.  Killing responded with a layup to cut the lead to 93-90 with 16 ticks left.  Schittino made one free throw to make it 94-90 with 14 seconds left, but Curry kept the Mules' hopes alive with a three with five seconds remaining to make it 94-93.  Breslin was fouled and made both from the line with 3.8 ticks left to make it 96-93.  Muhlenberg on its final try turned it over before getting a shot off and WC held on for the victory.

In the first half, Washington jumped out to a 14-8 lead in the first 5:54 of the game on a layup by sophomore forward Kevin Cunningham (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape) as he rebounded a missed three-pointer and scored on the second chance.  After Muhlenberg scored six straight points to tie the game at 14-14 on a three-pointer by Dean with 12:59 left, the Shoremen went on a 9-2 run to grab a 23-16 lead with 8:07 left in the half on a lay-in by Cunningham.  After the Mules cut the lead to 28-26 with 4:08 to go on a Dean layup, the Shoremen responded with a 9-2 spurt over the next 73 seconds to take a 37-28 lead with 2:55 remaining in the first half on a trifecta by Schittino.  Muhlenberg would end the first half on an 8-2 run to cut the Washington lead to 39-36 at halftime.

After the Shoremen scored the first basket of the second half to make it 41-36 on a jumper by senior forward Chris Olsen (Ellicott City, MD/Mount St. Joseph), the Mules scored seven consecutive points to take a 43-41 lead on a second chance layup by Kevin Hargrove.  Including the 8-2 run to end the first half, the Hargrove putback capped a 16-4 run by the hosts.  WC would come back with a 10-2 run of its own to retake the lead at 51-45 on a three by senior guard Mark DeBoy (Baltimore, MD/Mount St. Joseph) with 14:54 remaining in the contest.  Then, the Mules scored six straight points to knot the game up at 51-51 on a tip-in by Hargrove with 13:37 left in the second.

Muhlenberg led 59-57 with 9:46 remaining in the contest of a Dean free throw before WC scored five straight points to grab a 62-59 lead on a steal and layup by Breslin and a DeBoy trey with 6:45 remaining.  Liddic would put the Mules back up 63-62 with 5:46 to go.  The Mules led 73-71 when Olsen tipped in a miss by the Shoremen to even the game at 73-73 with 1:58 to go in the second.

Liddic canned a free throw to make it 74-73 with 1:48 to go before Breslin sank a jumper with 1:00 remaining to put Washington up 75-74.  Breslin was fouled on the play, missed the free throw, but got the rebound of his own miss to give the Shoremen the ball.  Senior center Max Finch (Medford, NJ/Shawnee) tallied a layup to put WC up 77-74 with 44 seconds left.  On the Mules next possession, Liddic was fouled and made both from the foul line to cut the Shoremen lead to 77-76 with 37 ticks to go in regulation.

Joining Breslin in double figures in points were Schittino with 16 points, DeBoy with 15 points and Hawkins with 10 points.  Breslin and Hawkins each grabbed a team-best eight rebounds in the win.  For Hawkins, the eight boards are a personal-best.  Breslin and DeBoy each pilfered two steals, while Olsen rejected two shots in the triumph.  The Shoremen shot 40% from the floor, 30% from three-point range and 64% from the foul line (16-for-25).    The Shoremen held a commanding 56-44 edge on the boards, with WC grabbing 30 offensive rebounds in the win, seven coming from Breslin and Cunningham each.

Liddic had a double-double with a team-high 22 points and a game-best 14 rebounds to go with a pair of blocked shots.  He was one of five Mules in double figures in scoring.  Dean scored 21 points, Killing netted 16 points, Curry tallied 14 points, while Hargrove chipped in with 10 points.  Hargrove had a game-topping five blocks and corralled nine rebounds.  Muhlenberg shot 50% from the floor, 29% from behind the arc and 58% from the free throw line (25-for-43). 

The Shoremen turned 20 Mules' turnovers into 19 points, while Muhlenberg had 15 points off of 14 WC miscues.  The Shoremen held the edge in second chance points (34-18) and bench points (24-10).

Washington had lost its prior 18 games at Memorial Hall to the Mules, but did down Drew at Memorial Hall, 102-81, on November 21, 1992.

Washington returns to the court on Wednesday night versus visiting Swarthmore in a Centennial Conference meeting.  Tip-off is slated for 8:00 p.m.