UMass Falls To Coastal Carolina In Triple-OT Thriller
The Chanticleers outlasted the Minutemen 94-91.
UMass pushed Coastal Carolina to the brink Saturday afternoon before coming up just short in a triple-overtime loss at the HTC Center in Conway, S.C., falling 94–91 as part of the second round of the MAC-SBC Challenge.
Marcus Banks Jr. nearly delivered a second straight miracle, sending the game to a third overtime with a buzzer-beating three at the end of the second extra session. His final attempt to force a third overtime came up just off the mark, and the Chanticleers got out with a win.
K’Jei Parker turned in a career performance to lead the Minutemen with 31 points, shooting 12-for-18 from the floor. Daniel Hankins-Sanford added 10 points and a career-high 20 rebounds, marking the most rebounds by a UMass player since Jim Town pulled down 27 against Boston College in 1976. The double-double was his ninth of the season.
Banks Jr. scored 21 points for UMass, while Leonardo Bettiol added 17 points and 10 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the year.
Coastal Carolina was led by Rasheed Jones with 26 points. AJ Dancler scored 24, including huge buckets toward the end of regulation and the first overtime. Joshua Beadle added 23 points, capped by the game-winning three with two seconds left in triple overtime. Reggie Hill contributed 11 points and a team-high 13 rebounds.
UMass controlled the game early, building a double-digit lead in the first half behind Parker’s scoring burst and strong work on the glass from Hankins-Sanford and Bettiol. The Minutemen took a 32–21 advantage into the break and stretched the margin to as many as 12 in the second half.
Coastal Carolina chipped away late, finally taking its first lead with 1:37 remaining in regulation. Parker answered with a game-tying three with 13 seconds left, and Dancler missed at the horn to send the game to overtime.
The Minutemen appeared poised to pull away in the first extra period, taking a four-point lead with under a minute to play, but Dancler buried a contested three with 0.4 seconds remaining to force a second overtime.
Banks Jr. delivered again in the second overtime, drilling a last-second three to extend the game to a third extra session. UMass stayed within striking distance throughout, and Banks Jr. tied the game at 91 with his fourth three of the night before Beadle’s final shot sealed the outcome.
UMass finished with four players in double figures and held a significant edge in bench scoring, outscoring Coastal Carolina’s reserves 34–10. The Minutemen also converted 25 second-chance points but were unable to overcome the late-game shot-making from the Chanticleers.
What’s next: UMass returns to MAC play Friday at Akron. Tip is set for 9 p.m., with the game airing on CBS Sports Network.
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