Box Score

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – A pair of timely runs by the Queens College (20-8) men's basketball team nearly were rewarded at the end of Saturday night's East Coast Conference semifinal at Harvey Hubbell Gymnasium, but it was not meant to be, as the third-seeded Knights fell in overtime to the second-seeded Pioneers of C.W. Post (20-9), 73-67.

This marked the second time that these two teams went to extra time to decide a winner this year, as the Pioneers pulled out a 98-96 triumph when the sides first met in Brookville, N.Y., on Jan. 8.

Queens held a sizeable advantage in second-chance points (19-8) and overcame a deficit as great as 15 points late in the first half to take the lead with 2:57 remaining in the contest on a pair of Khalil McDonald (11 pts., nine rebounds, game-high three steals) free throws. Senior Anderson Labase was in control most of the night, pacing all players with 22 points while registering a 6:2 assist-to-turnover ratio from his point guard position. Labase's classmate, Lamonte Lans wrapped up his 1,000-point-plus career with a 13-point effort in the loss.

Editor's Note: Labase was selected to the 2011 ECC Men's Basketball Championships All-Tournament Team at the conclusion of the weekend's competition.

The Knights were victimized by a large field-goal percentage discrepancy (CWP: .520; QC: .347), but stayed in the contest by taking better care of the ball (QC: 10 turnovers; CWP: 21). Uncharacteristically, Queens, which ranked third in the ECC in 3-point shooting entering the contest at a .363 clip, was just 3-for-24 from downtown on the evening.

C.W. Post had control for most of the first half, using a 16-4 run to take its largest lead of the night at 32-17 when Amir Tarif converted a conventional 3-point play with 4:55 to go. However, Queens had a run left in them to end the half, and scored nine unanswered points over the final 2:12 of the stanza to pull within a 34-28 deficit at the halftime break. Junior Edil Lacayo buried a 3-pointer from the right-hand corner with 20 seconds left in the frame to cap the spurt.

Jeremiah Mordi (nine points, eight rebounds) scored three of his points early on in the second half to bring Queens to within three points, at 36-33, with 17:45 remaining in regulation. From there, the Pioneers used a 13-2 dash to take a 14-point advantage (49-35) when Gil Montalvo (nine points, game-high nine assists) knocked down a jumper on the fastbreak.

About midway through the second half, Queens began to make their run. Labase buried a trifecta to start a 10-3 string that brought the No. 3 seed to within a three-point deficit, 54-51, when Mordi knocked down a jumper off an offensive rebound with 6:42 on the clock. Vaughn Allen then hit a jumper on CWP's next possession, before Queens was able to score four points at the free-throw line – two by Labase off a technical foul, and two by McDonald – with 6:01 remaining to slice the Pioneers lead to 56-55. Allen canned one free throw with 4:20 left, before Labase came through in the clutch once again with 3:49 showing, knotting the game, 57-57. Following a freebie from C.W. Post's conference player of the year, Stefan Bonneau (21 pts., 4-for-6 3FG) with 3:24 left, McDonald laid home a go-ahead basket with 2:57 left to give the Knights a 59-58 advantage – their first lead since they were up 5-4 just 3:49 into the contest.

Bonneau and QC's Terrell Simmons (nine pts., eight reb., game-high four blocked shots) traded a pair of free throws at the 1:56 and 1:20 marks, respectively, before Allen's freebie with roughly 27 seconds remaining in regulation knotted the game at 61-all. Labase missed a potential go-ahead lay-in with five seconds to go, before Mordi's trifecta was off the mark on the ensuing offensive rebound, sending Queens to its fifth overtime game of the campaign.

Hall's jumper 49 seconds into the extra session was negated with Simmons's layup with 3:33 to go. Labase canned a pair from the charity stripe to knot the game at 65-all with 1:53 showing, before the Pioneers scored six straight points to effectively end the contest. Labase drove for a layup with four seconds left to pull the Knights to within a 71-67 count, before Montalvo iced the game with a subsequent pair of freebies.