Flanigan With Career-Bests of 17 Points and 14 Boards; Morgan Tallies Personal-Best 21 Points

CHESTERTOWN, Md. – Host Washington College outscored visiting Muhlenberg 17-12 in the overtime session as the Shoremen downed the Mules, 104-99, on Saturday afternoon in a Centennial Conference men's basketball game at the Cain Athletic Center.  The Shoremen are now 1-2 overall and 1-0 in the conference, while the Mules drop to 3-1 and 0-1 respectively.

The Shoremen lead 87-84 with 17 seconds left in the second half after two free throws by freshman guard Bryan Shapiro (Bala Cynwyd, Pa./Lower Merion).  The Mules needed a three-pointer to force overtime and got a triple from the left wing by James Albano who made the shot despite being draped by a Washington defender on the play with 2.1 seconds left.  The Shoremen could not get a shot off on its last possession of regulation and the game was off to overtime.

In overtime, in which the Shoremen never trailed, WC scored the first six points to take a 93-87 lead with 3:45 left in the extra frame following a free throw by junior guard John Weston (Tampa, Fla./Bolles School).  The Mules cut the lead to 93-90 with 2:43 remaining on a jumper by Austin Curry, but the Shoremen scored 10 of the next 13 points to take a 103-93 lead with 45 ticks left on a two free throws by sophomore forward Pat Morgan (Havertown, Pa./Haverford).  However the Mules would not go down quietly as they got back-to-back threes by Curry with 22 seconds left and a right corner three by Alec Stavetski after he stole the inbounds to cut the lead 103-99.  However Morgan was able to hit a free throw to make it 104-99 with 16 seconds left and Muhlenberg could not score on its last possession and WC ran out the clock for the victory.

In the first half, Muhlenberg led 11-10 with 14:05 left following two free throws by Malique Killing before the Shoremen scored the next seven points to take a 17-11 lead on a layup by sophomore forward Dave Knox (Warrington, Pa./Central Bucks South).  Washington led 27-19 with 7:51 to go in the half on a free throw by senior guard Kevin Cunningham (Mt. Laurel, N.J./Lenape) before the Mules went on a 10-2 run to knot the game at 29-29 with 5:21 left in the stanza on a Killing transition layup.  The Shoremen would respond to the Mules run with a 12-3 run of their own to turn a 31-31 tie into a 43-34 lead with 2:18 remaining in the first on a Weston lay-in.  The hosts took a 45-38 lead into halftime.

Muhlenberg came out strong with a pair of runs to take 56-49 lead with 12:15 to go in the second half.  The Mules opened the half with a 10-2 run to take their first lead since early in the first half at 48-47 on a Killing fast-break lay-in with 15:04 left.  After two free throws by Washington junior guard Stephen Poarch (Middletown, Del./Sanford School) gave WC a 49-48 with 14:34 to go, Muhlenberg scored eight straight points to take a 56-49 lead with 12:15 left on a Brandon Bovino lay-in.  Washington would respond with a 12-2 run of its own to grab a 61-58 lead with 10:19 left on a Knox jumper.  The Mules would respond with eight straight points to lead 66-61 with 8:12 to go on a Stavetski three.  Washington regained the lead with 3:22 to go in regulation on a traditional three-point play by junior forward Sean Flanigan (Newark, Del./St. Mark's) to give the hosts a 76-75 lead.  After two Stevetski free throws gave the Mules the lead again at 77-76 with 3:22 left after he was fouled after Flanigan's free throw, Flanigan canned a triple with 2:42 left to put the hosts up 79-77.  Killing tied it with two from the line with 2:26 left at 79-79.  Muhlenberg lead 83-82 with 1:32 left on a three by Stavetski before Washington got a three by junior guard Sean Brooks (North Wales, Pa./North Penn) to put the hosts up 85-83 with 54 ticks.  Bovino would make a free throw to cut the WC lead to 85-84 with 41 seconds left and then on WC's next possession they would turn the ball over.  Killing missed a layup with 21 seconds left and Morgan got the rebound and passed it to Shapiro who was fouled four seconds later and he made both to give the hosts a three point lead at 87-84.

Flanigan had his first career double-double with career-bests of 17 points and 14 rebounds, the 14 rebounds leading all participants.  Morgan scored a personal-high 21 points to lead the Shoremen in the win.  Also scoring in double figures for Washington were Cunningham with 17 points, Brooks with 11 points and Knox chipped in with 10 points.  Brooks had five assists to lead all players in the victory.  The Shoremen shot 48% from the floor (36-for-75), 38% from three-point range (13-for-34) and 59% from the foul line (19-for-32).  Washington held a 42-34 advantage in rebounds, including a 17-7 edge on the offensive glass, and had 17 turnovers while forcing the Mules into 21 turnovers.  Washington had 28-23 advantage in points off turnovers, 36-34 edge in points in the paint, 12-11 edge in second chance points and a dominating 42-13 advantage in bench points.

Killing had a game-best 37 points for the Mules as he made 16-of 17 from the free-throw line.  Stavetski had 25 points on 7-for-9 shooting from the floor and made 4-of-5 from three-point land.  Curry had 15 points, while Bovino had a team-best 11 rebounds.  Albano handed out four assists to lead the guests.  Muhlenberg shot 55% from the floor (30-for-55), 71% from three-point range (10-for-14) and 81% from the charity stripe (29-for-36).  The Mules had nine of the game's 13 fast-break points.

This was Washington's first 100-point game since a 101-86 win over Villa Julie (now Stevenson) on February 3, 2003 and the most points in a game since a 125-124 double overtime victory over Wesley on January 30, 2003.

The Shoremen have now won 17 of the 22 all-time meetings with Muhlenberg in Chestertown.

The Shoremen are home again on Tuesday evening at 6:00 p.m. when they host McDaniel in a conference contest.