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HAMILTON, N.Y. (2/13/10) - Senior forward Ben Jonson (Dallas, Texas) had 19 points and 11 rebounds as Colgate overcame an 11-point second half deficit to defeat American 75-74 in double overtime on Saturday afternoon.

Jonson was a hero on multiple occasions during the game. He blocked American forward Vlad Moldoveanu's baseline jumper with five seconds left in double overtime, and when Moldoveanu retained the rebound, Jonson had a hand in his face as the big man clanked a jumper off the rim as time expired. 

Jonson also came through in the clutch on the offensive end, as he nailed a fade-away baseline jumper as time expired to send the game into its second overtime, tying the score at 68. Furthermore, he made a layup with 34 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game at 56.
   
Trailing 66-60 with 25 seconds left in the first overtime, senior guard Kyle Roemer (Martinez, Calif.) hit a three-pointer to bring Colgate within three. The Raiders made multiple attempts for a steal, but were forced to foul Moldoveanu with nine seconds remaining. Moldoveanu hit both free throws to put American up by five. Freshman point guard Mitch Rolls (Coffeyville, Kan.) then made a desperation three-pointer from the top of the key, making the score 68-66 in American's favor. Sophomore forward Yaw Gyawu (Lilburn, Ga.) then made the defensive play of the game by stealing the inbounds pass and knocking it off an American player out-of bounds with four-tenths of a second left. Rolls and Jonson then executed a perfect play, as the freshman in-bounded the ball to Jonson for a baseline jumper for the tie.
   
In the second overtime, all but two of the 13 points scored by both teams were off free throws. With the game tied at 72, sophomore center Nick Pascale (DeWitt, N.Y.) blocked a Daniel Munoz shot and stole the ball in succession. Munoz then fouled Pascale, who sank two free throws to give Colgate a 74-72 lead. After Simon McCormack missed a jumper, Pascale grabbed another defensive board and dished it off to Rolls, who was immediately fouled and made one-of-two from the charity stripe. On American's next possession, Nick Hendra was fouled as he attempted a three-pointer. He made the first two free throws before hitting the front rim on the third attempt. Roemer grabbed the rebound and was fouled, sending him to the line for two shots. Up until that point, Roemer had calmly made all 10 of his free throw attempts, but he missed both of his shots from the line at this juncture. Without any timeouts, American rebounded the second miss with 16 seconds left, leading to Moldoveanu's two misses and Jonson's block.
   
Colgate overcame a 36-25 second half deficit by going on a 12-1 run capped off by a Mitch Rolls two-pointer to tie the game at 37. American immediately re-took the lead and had a 46-41 advantage after a Stephen Luptak two-pointer before Colgate responded with an 8-0 run after consecutive jumpers from Roemer and Jonson with 6:29 left, taking a 49-46 lead. Once again, Moldoveanu came through for the Eagles and brought them back into the lead after a layup with four minutes remaining, making the score 52-51 American. McCormack hit a layup before three Raider free throws tied the game at 54 with 1:46 left. Moldoveanu hit two free throws to give American a 56-54 lead, but after a Jonson missed three, the American big man traveled to give Colgate the ball. Jonson then got the ball inside and banked it off the backboard to tie the game. The Raiders played swarming defense on the other end and did not let American get a shot off before time expired. With only three-tenths of a second left at that point, Colgate could not get a shot off before overtime. 
   
Both teams were tied at 20 in the first half before American went on a 14-5 run into intermission. Moldoveanu led all scorers after the first 20 minutes with 14 points.
   
Roemer scored 19 points, and Rolls pitched in 13 to go along with a game-high seven assists. Gyawu had 11, while Pascale had seven points and six boards, and junior point guard Joe Hoban (West Chester, Pa.) had six points and four rebounds off the bench. Pascale and Hoban in particular played timely defense in the second half and overtime periods.
   
For American (7-18, 4-6), Moldoveanu had 30 points and 10 rebounds. Hendra scored 14, and Stephen Lumpkins had 11 points to go along with 12 boards.
   
Colgate (8-16, 4-6) broke an 11-game losing streak to the Eagles, having not reigned victorious since a 67-57 win on February 13, 2005. 
   
The Raiders will now host first-place Lehigh on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The game can be seen on Patriot League All-Access.