BRISTOL, R.I. – Cam Walker's (New Bedford, Mass.) layup with just seconds left in overtime delivered Mount Ida an 88-87 victory over Roger Williams in their men's basketball season opener on Friday night.
It also gave him 41 points in the game, tying the Mustangs program record for single-game scoring while delivering the victory for first year head coach Ben Davis in his coaching debut.
Walker shot 17-for-30 from the floor, breaking the Mount Ida marks for field goals made and attempted in a single game.
Mount Ida (1-0) books a place in the Roger Williams Invitational tip-off tournament championship game. They will face Clark University in Newport on Saturday at 3:00 pm.
Treace Macklin (Brockton, Mass.) added 24 points of his own for Mount Ida, who shot 45% from the field and 38.5% from behind the three-point line. Macklin also pulled in a team-high 11 rebounds.
Guard Everett Ramirez (Los Angeles, Calif.) added 15 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Walker, who had a game-high five steals and added four assists and a block, tied the effort of Dave Santos, who scored 41 points in a November 16th, 2008 contest against Fisher College.
Roger Williams (0-1) will play in the consolation game on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 pm against Vassar College, who was edged 65-62 by the Cougars in the late game Friday night.
Roger Williams led for most of the contest, leading by double digits throughout most of the first half. RWU took its largest lead of the game with 17:38 to play in the second half, as Ryan Palumbo (Warwick, R.I.) made his way down the lane for a layup to give RWU a 49-34 advantage.
Mount Ida continued to claw its way back in the game, finally taking its first lead of the second half with only 1:14 to play on a pair of free throws by Ramirez. Travis Fonseca (Bridgeport, Conn.) would go one of two at the line on the following possession to help send the game to OT.
In the extra period, the Mustangs rolled off a 12-4 run to go up by eight before the Hawks responded with nine straight points to give RWU a 87-86 lead with 22 seconds left.
After a missed pair of free throws from the Hawks, Walker drove down the court for the game-winning layup, assisted by Macklon.
Palumbo led the Hawks with 22 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists. Trevor Fhamy (Bedford, N.H.) added 13 points and nine rebounds, while Chris Bardwell came off the bench with 14 points and five rebounds in his Hawk debut.
*Release courtesy of Mount Ida College Sports Information