Five in double figures as Keelhaulers battle back to defeat PUC in double OT

ANGWIN, Calif. – Trailing by six in Sunday's Cal Pac contest with 66 seconds left to play, a string of clutch plays from Cal Maritime forced overtime at Pacific Auditorium.  

Twenty-four seconds after Braxton Adderly cut the Keelhaulers' deficit to four with a layup, Cetrick Yeanay pulled them within one by draining a three with 25 seconds remaining. Following another defensive stop,a  free throw from Amil Fields evened the score at 69 apiece, which led to another five minutes of action in Angwin.

Following three lead changes in overtime, it was Divine Nwoko who drilled a clutch basket from three, with 1:07 on the clock, that pulled his team even with Pacific Union at 77-77 — a score that remain untouched until the buzzer, which led to another overtime period.

This back-and-forth rivalry battle continued throughout the opening minutes of double overtime, with the lead bouncing from one team to the other until Pacific Union tied the score at 81 with 2:15 on the clock.

From that point on, it was the Keelhaulers who came up with one key play after another, which ultimately resulted in an 87-84 victory — the team's third in the last four played in Angwin, the sixth overall in the last seven head-to-head matchups, and the second this season following Cal Maritime's 82-69 result in a designated non-conference meeting that took place in Vallejo on Nov. 7.

With Sunday's win, Cal Maritime will head to UC Merced for Thursday's 7:30 p.m. Cal Pac clash with a 10-6 overall and 5-1 record in league play. Pacific Union will continue is season at 2-10 and 2-3.

Tied at 81, Lucky Hampton's layup gave the Keelhaulers' a two-point lead, but it was a three from Fields, which beat the shot clock, that extended their advantage to a two-possession cushion with 28 seconds on the clock.

Even though PUC responded with a three of its own, a free throw from Yeanay made it 87-84, Cal Maritime, which ended up as the game's final score as the Keelhaulers' defense limited the Pioneers to an awkward three-point attempt on the final possession of the night — a desperation three that never came close to forcing a third OT.

Nwoko led a contingent of five Keelhaulers who scored in double figures by finishing with 21; Miles Pennington ended his night with 16 points, followed by Yeanay, Fields and Adderly with 12, 11, and 10 points, respectively.

Nwoko posted a double-double by collecting a team-high 12 rebounds; Pennington and Fields recorded double-doubles of their own by finishing with 10 board apiece.