SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Three seconds. That was all it took in the second half for Post University Men's Basketball to flip a game that looked certain to end in defeat into a 92-83 victory in overtime on Wednesday afternoon against AIC. Three missed free throws on four attempts by the Yellow Jackets and a costly foul with 0.5 seconds left from graduate guard Buka Peikrishvili led to senior forward Deng Deang tying the game at 79 points to force overtime all in three seconds. 

Deang would finish with 26 points, scoring seven of those in overtime while snagging 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the season in the comeback win for the Eagles. 

THE BASICS

Post University 92, AIC 83 (OT)

Post University (7-5)

AIC (1-10)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Junior guard Jack Hall had a first half to remember for the Yellow Jackets, scoring 18 of his 20 points on the day in the nearly 17 minutes he played. Hall was 5-for-7 from the floor while draining all four of his threes and his four free throws en route to the hot start while AIC shot a blistering 6-for-12 (50%) overall from beyond the arc.

A more balanced scoring attack for the Eagles led to Deang's team-high nine points on just 3-for-7 shooting with three rebounds, but seven of the 10 players who saw time in the first half connected for Post who shot 50% from the floor with a 16-for-32 start despite making only 4-of-12 threes. Extra possessions were hard to come by for both teams in the opening 20 minutes as AIC committed just six turnovers while the Eagles had five, but it was Post who held a 7-0 edge in points off turnovers.

After the Yellow Jackets jumped out to a 4-0 start, the Eagles eventually took their only leads of the half, 10-9 and 12-11, which lasted a combined 31 seconds. Senior guard Bol Akot and sophomore guard Ta'Quan Williams helped Post tie things up at 40 all heading into halftime with a 5-0 run after AIC had led for over 17 minutes in the first half with only four ties and four lead changes in the stretch. 

11 points would be the Post deficit with 14:32 to go after a three from senior guard Zaja Lovre made it a 57-46 game in favor of AIC. Graduate guard Tyler Small's three started a stretch in which the Eagles scored 13 of 15 points as part of a 13-2 run to tie the game up at 59 at the midway point of the half following five straight points from Deang. From there, a back-and-forth battle would ensue that lasted inside of the final minute of regulation with Post trailing by two with the ball following a steal from senior guard Robert Sanders with 49 seconds remaining. 

The ensuing Post possession resulted in an air ball by Deang from three and on the other end a three by junior guard Justice Ellison with four seconds left was grabbed by Peikrishvili forcing the Eagles to foul. The graduate student missed the first free throw and connected on the second with three seconds to go, making it a three-point game in which AIC fouled to send Deang to the line with just under two seconds to go.

After making the first, the senior intentionally missed the second and a lane violation resulted in Yellow Jackets ball, forcing Post to foul Ellison on the inbound who went to the line and missed both free throws. Graduate forward Harrison Warnock's half-court heave to Deang near the three-point line with under a second to go was over the senior's head but he was pushed from behind by Peikrishvili in a turn of events that led to the game-tying free throws for Deang with 0.5 seconds left to force overtime tied at 79. 

Setting the tone right away in the extra session, Deang scored five of the first seven points between the two sides and Post would never trail during the overtime period. A 7-0 run which was part of Deang's scoring run while leading 84-83 was all the Eagles needed to pull away from AIC and come out on top by nine points, 92-83, in a wild finish to a game in which Post led for just 6:17 of it. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• Deng Deang notched his third double-double of the season after scoring 26 points and tallying 10 rebounds while shooting 8-for-17 to lead all scorers in this afternoon's game
• Scoring 23 points on 7-for-14 shooting, Bol Akot scored 23 points making it five of his last six games reaching double-digit scoring and 20-plus points in five games now this season 
• Justice Ellison led AIC with 24 points on 9-for-24 shooting while not being followed far behind by Jack Hall with 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting with a perfect 4-for-4 day from three-point range 
• This is the first time this season Post University has been tied going into halftime, moving to 1-0 in such situations while remaining 5-0 when leading at halftime this season and 1-5 when trailing at halftime -- The Eagles are now 3-0 in overtime this season and 6-0 in the last two seasons in games going past regulation 

WHO'S NEXT
Post University goes up to New Hampshire this Saturday where they will take on Southern New Hampshire University at 2:00 PM in their final game before the New Year. The Eagles are 1-11 all-time against the Penmen, winning that lone game back during the 2022-23 season on the road and have lost their last two head-to-head matchups which both came last year at home, 82-76, and in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament, 69-64.