NORTH ANDOVER — If the New Bedford boys were going to make the three-plus hour trip through Friday night rush-hour traffic, they were going to make their collective presence felt at Crozier Field House.
The Whalers, seeded 24th, gave No. 8 North Andover all it could handle and then some. The Scarlet Knights showed some mettle of their own, though, too.
Riding late heroics from first-team All-MVC choices Zach Wolinski and Jake Denney, the Knights avoided disaster, gritting out a 65-63 overtime decision in the MIAA Division 1 Tourney Round of 32 classic.
“We knew it was going to be like that. We knew it was going to be a battle, it was going to be close,” said Knights coach Paul Tanglis.
When Damarius Roberts knocked in a running 30-foot three at the regulation buzzer, forcing overtime at 54 apiece, it looked like all that needed to be applied to the Whaler shocker were the finishing touches.
North Andover pulled itself up off the mat and kept swinging.
“Obviously, he hit that three at the buzzer and it took the air out of us,” said Tanglis. “I just told them going to overtime, you have to turn the page. It’s 0-0. You have four more minutes. We battled.”
There were two ties in the overtime, the last being 59-59. But Wolinski broke that stalemate with a three with just over a minute left. The Knights would not trail again.
Fittingly enough, on a night with both teams struggled mightily from the foul line — the Knights were 19 for 35 while New Bedford was just 8 for 23 including six straight fourth-quarter misses — it ended there as well.
Down two, with 4.7 seconds left, Roberts made his way the length of the court and was fouled going up as the buzzer sounded. Make two and it would be double OT. He missed the first, and that was all.
North Andover hung on and advanced to the Round of 16 where the Knights will now host Springfield Central – the team that upset Andover.
Wolinski finished the night with 30, and yes, he was that good on both ends, especially carving up the relentless New Bedford press. Cam Bethel knocked in four giant threes on the night, finishing with 13 points. Denney, whose work on the boards was best described as fearsome, had 10.
“I don’t think we shot it well all night. We missed a lot of free throws, but we found a way,” said Tanglis.
“Zach and Jake, those are our guys. That’s why they’re first-team all-conference players. It’s just a great win for all these guys.”