Philadelphia, PA - It took a gritty performance to even send the game to overtime, as the Explorers, already down to seven scholarship athletes, had four players register over 40 minutes of action, led by Junior Steven Smith (Philadelphia, PA/Northeast) who played all 45.   

 

The Explorers trailed, 32-24, at halftime and were getting hammered on the boards, 22-8, but they surged out of the locker room and took the lead, 39-37, on a soft jumper from Darnell Harris (Baltimore, MD/St. Francis). 

 

The extended that lead to 55-49 with 5:25 to play in regulation, but were held scoreless for nearly five minutes until Thomas buried a three to knot the game at 58-58.

 

Thomas led all players with 18 points, and was 4-9 from three-point range.  Harris matched that with 18 points of his own on 7-16 shooting and also buried four three pointers.  Mike St. John (Northboro, MA/River School) was relentless in the paint, and amassed nine offensive rebounds to go along with his seven points and 13 total boards. 

 

Steven Smith was relatively quiet from the field, shooting just 2-11, but was the fulcrum for the offense as the Explorers navigated through the UMass zone, and he finished with 12 points, including 8-9 from the free throw line.     

 

Maurice Maxwell, a Philadelphia product, led the Minutemen with 17 points. 

 

The Explorers had been previously unbeaten in overtimes (2-0). 

They will return to action on Wednesday, Feb. 23 when they travel to take on Duquesne at 7:00 P.M..