By Justin Satkowski
NEW PALTZ - Mount Saint Mary College rallied from a six-point deficit in the final minute of regulation and went on to defeat New Paltz, 83-81, in overtime. The Knights improve to 2-1 on the year.
Trailing by six inside the final minute, junior Donte Howell cut the deficit in half with a three-pointer with 22 seconds remaining. New Paltz missed the front end of a one-and-one with 15 seconds remaining and then made the mistake of leaving senior Lenny Ragaglia open at the other end. Ragaglia drained a three-pointer with nine seconds to play, his only bucket of the game, to tie the game at 71-71 and force overtime.
In the extra session, New Paltz got on the board first, but the Knights answered with a 7-0 run. A bucket in the paint from junior Joe Henain with 1:03 remaining made it 78-73, Knights. Howell made three-of-four at the line inside the final minute to push the advantage to as many as six. A desperation three-pointer from New Paltz found the mark with no time remaining to make the final margin, 83-81.
Howell knocked in a team-high 25 points on the strength of 4-of-5 from the three-point line and 11-of-12 on free throws. Junior Joe Stabach connected on just 7-of-22 from the field, but still managed 20 points and nine rebounds. Henain completed a nice double-double with 12 points and 14 boards. The junior also tallied four blocks.
The Knights shot just 9-for-40 in the first half and trailed 39-23 at the break. They went on to shoot 15-of-32 in the second half, including 8-of-15 from three, to close the gap.
