By Jordan Fairchild
Elm Staff Writer
On Tuesday, Nov. 16, the Washington College men’s basketball team travelled to Harrisburg, Pa., to compete against the Penn State University-Harrisburg Lions. The Shoremen were narrowly defeated by the Lions in overtime at 84–87.
The Shoremen were behind, 25–32, at halftime and trailed 56–73 in the end of the second half. Sophomore Jason Zielinski sparked a 20–0 run for the Shoremen with a three-pointer with 4:16 left in the game.
After hitting three free throws, Zielinski intercepted a pass and took it down the court to score a three, bringing the score to 71–73 with two minutes remaining.
Not long after, senior Tray Wright came up with a steal and a shot to tie the game at 73–73 with 1:40 on the clock.
The score was 76–76 at the end, forcing the game into overtime.
The Shoremen led early in overtime but trailed 84–85 in the final seconds. The Lions capped the score at 84–87 with a break away dunk.
Zielinski scored a career-high of 24 points and was 6–13 from the three-point range, making him the first Shoreman since Alec Lewis ’20 to hit six threes in a game.
Sophomore Kedrick Frink scored a career-high of 22 points with eight rebounds, five assists, and four steals. Wright had 10 points, six assists, and five steals.
The Shoremen shot 41.6% overall and 35.5% from the three-point range.
On Saturday, Nov. 20, the Shoremen traveled to Owings Mills, Md. to play Stevenson University in the Pride of Maryland Classic. The Mustangs defeated the Shoremen in an overtime matchup that ended at 87–89.
The Shoremen trailed 53–68 with a little over eight minutes left in the game, but cut the lead to 66–72 with less than three minutes remaining.
Wright scored a three-point shot off a rebound from Frink to bring the score to 72–76 with 1:02 on the clock.
With less than a minute left in the final half, junior Nick Romeo was fouled and made both of his free throws, which brought the deficit to 74–76.
A three-pointer from sophomore Sam Corrao tied the game at 77–77, forcing overtime.
A minute into overtime, senior Dilyn Becker sunk a jumper to give the Shoremen the lead at 79–77. The Shoremen trailed behind for some time, but came back and tied the score again at 87–87 with another three-pointer from Corrao.
With less than 10 seconds left on the clock, the Lions took the final lead, closing the score out at 87–89.
Corrao scored a career-high of 20 points, going 7–11 from the floor and 5–8 from the three-point range.
Wright had a double-double with 10 points and a team-high of 10 rebounds. Becker had 15 points and a team-best five assists, matching his career-high in both categories.
The Shoremen shot 40% from the floor, 34% from the three-point range, and 78% from the foul line.
On Tuesday, Nov. 23, the Shoremen hosted their Centennial Conference-opener against Haverford College. They were defeated by the Fords 61–74.
The Shoremen were down 23–39 at halftime. Wright and Frink opened the second half with layups, but the Fords pushed their lead to 27–44 within the next few minutes.
The Shoremen went on a 12–3 scoring run to bring the deficit within single digits at 39–47. The Fords responded with an 11–0 run with nine minutes left in the game, which put the score at 39–58.
With 1:33 left on the clock, a jumper from Becker put the Shoremen within seven points of the Fords, but the final score was 61–68, a loss for the Shoremen.
Becker had 14 points during the game. Corrao had 12 points and five rebounds. Frink had 11 points, seven rebounds, and six steals. Wright had nine points and a team-high of four assists.
The Shoremen shot 38.3% overall and 17.4% from the three-point range.
The Shoremen are 1–4 overall and 0–1 in Centennial Conference play.
They will play again on Saturday, Dec. 4, against Gettysburg College at 3 p.m. in Gettysburg, Pa.