Men's Basketball Beats First-Place Gallaudet

The Wells College men's basketball team surged in the second half and won 88-82 at Gallaudet University. Wells defeated the leaders of the NEAC South Division, and handed Gallaudet just its second loss in conference play this year.

Wells improved to 14-8 overall and 11-4 in North Eastern Athletic Conference play. The Express remains in third place in the NEAC North Division, and clinched a playoff spot earlier in the week via results from other teams in the league. Gallaudet is 18-5 overall and 16-2 in the NEAC.

Rich Ross led Wells with 35 points. He scored 31 in the second half, including a 13-for-17 foul-shooting performance. Chris Courtney scored 19 points and Anthony Nesci scored 13. The Wells defense forced 27 turnovers by the Bison. Ross had seven steals.

Wells trailed 49-48 with 11 minutes remaining but scored eight points in a row to take a seven-point lead. That run included back-to-back 3-pointers from Ross.

Gallaudet rallied back and tied the game 69-69 with 3:36 left to play, but Ross scored eight points in a row on back-to-back 3-pointers and two free throws. Wells closed out the game in the final minutes and built its largest lead of 11 points.

The Express will play Sunday at 2 p.m. at Wilson College.