Article copied from Jamestown Post Journal (http://www.post-journal.com/sports/local-sports/2018/02/overtime-breakdown/)

Jamestown Community College had the guts to undo a sloppy defensive first half with a comeback in regulation time at the Physical Education Complex on Wednesday night, but all that hard work was undone in the closing seconds of overtime when Tahjmere Jones was able to hit Andrew Ajilore with a full-court pass for an easy slam to give visiting Mercyhurst North East a 106-104 NJCAA Region 3 Division II men's basketball win.

After regaining the lead at 87-86 with under four minutes left to play and leading by six with one minute remaining, the Jayhawks (6-15, 0-9) fell victim to the hot-shooting Saints (7-14, 3-8) as Jones was able to bury a dagger 3-pointer to bring things back to even at 92-all and force overtime.

Despite once again falling into a five-point hole in the extra period, Jamestown CC's hopes were once again resurrected by an inside bucket from Tavion King and finally a contested 3-point make by Averi Parker to bring things to even at 104-104 before Ajilore's heroics sealed up the win.

"I was trying to get guys to guard," said Jamestown CC assistant coach Xavier Churnac, who was filling in for head coach George Sisson. "It just came down to us locking down defensively, playing with more energy, flying around and contesting shots, getting a rebound on the one-and-done so that we could get up and run our offense. The first half we didn't do a great job of that."

The early going saw Jamestown CC trade inside post buckets for long-range makes by the Saints, with a nice shot from Germaine Wright being countered by a 3 from Mercyhurst North East's Will Jackson to bring things to even at 12-12.

Jackson then buried another bucket from beyond the arc on the Saints' next possession, but Jamestown CC was able to counter with King dishing a bounce-pass to Keshaun Howard down low and a three-point play following a reverse lay-in from Germaine Wright. 

The Jayhawks would hold a lead at 37-33, but defensive miscues then resulted in easy buckets by Eric Montanez down low while Jones was able to complete a three-point play to give the visitors a lead back at 45-41.

"We knew that the defense had to be sharpened up for us to win this game, so I think that's the main thing that really helped us (in the second half)," Churnac said. "We did a better job of taking care of the ball on the offensive end instead of the silly passes, you know, cutting down on that. I thought we got some quality shots, that helped as well but it mainly was the defense."

The Jayhawks struggled to begin the second half with offensive momentum, as the Saints were able to pick up a lead once more at 59-49 following treys by Izai Clark and Andrew Stromenger while makes in the paint came from Jones and Ajilore.

Down the stretch it was long-range shooting from Wright and Howard that was able to keep the Jayhawks within striking distance, but the hosts still fell into a 10-point hole as Mercyhurst North East earned a 72-66 lead.

More treys, this time from Williams on a kickout by Terrance Cosby and a transition pullup by Williams, were able to close that gap before a steal by Wright gave Jamestown CC the lead once again.

In the end it was a lack of contested jump shots and some key missed free throws that doomed the hosts.

"I mean everyone pretty much played in the first half, I just wanted to see if somebody could keep somebody in front. We struggled with it. It was good at times, but all in all we just didn't do a good job of keeping somebody in front of us."

MERCYHURST NORTH EAST (106)

Jones 6 2-5 17, Montanez 10 4-7 25, Clark 5 0-0 11, Ajilore 6 2-2 14, Stromenger 6 0-0 15, Watson 2 0-2 4, Rodriguez 0 0-0 0, Jackson 7 3-5 20. Totals 42 11-19 106.

JAMESTOWN CC (104)

King 4 2-4 10, Howard 7 2-2 18, Wright 6 3-4 17, Robson 1 0-0 3, Cosby 9 2-3 20, Kiadii 0 1-2 1, Williams 6 2-2 17, Parker 7 1-2 18, Davidson 0 0-0 0. Totals 40 13-19 104.

Halftime–Mercyhurst Northeast 45, Jamestown CC 44. 3-point goals–Jones 3 Montanez, Clark, Stromenger 3, Jackson 3, Howard 2, Wright 2, Robson, Williams 3, Parker 3.