For the second time in as many weeks, Mohawk found themselves in an overtime game. Some heroics from Herkimer’s Mike Fahy in regulation and overtime extended the game, but when it was all over and done with, the Mohicans came out on top 82-74.
Mohawk (15-2) found themselves down early in the game when Herkimer couldn’t miss from the field. 10 points from Paul Grubner in the first quarter led the Magicians to a 15-4 lead by the end of the first quarter.
Their 11 point lead ballooned to 14 with 5:37 left in the second quarter after Armand Viscomi hit a three-point shot which forced Mohawk head coach Luke Judd to call a time out.
After the time out, Mohawk switched their defense to a diamond-and-one, with Billy LeClair guarding Fahy, and Mohawk got a couple stops and started making some plays on offense.
With 1:44 left in the first half, Mohawk went on a 12-2 run, thanks to two three-pointers by Winston Smithson and a three-point field goal and three-point play by Carson Murphy, cutting the score to 28-23.
The Mohicans ended the half on a 14-2 run, with Herkimer only leading the game by three points at halftime (28-25).
In the second half, both teams fought each other tooth and nail, with Smithson, LeClair and Murphy providing the spark for Mohawk, and Fahy, Donnie Coleman, Teddy Borek and Ryan Schiavi doing it for Herkimer.
Mohawk had a three-point lead in the final seconds of regulation and two-point lead in overtime, but a three-point shot from Fahy with one second left in regulation and a lay up with four seconds left in overtime, allowed Herkimer to extend the game.
Fahy’s heroics ended in the sixth overtime when Mohawk put the game away, scoring eight more points than Herkimer in the final quarter (16-8).
Mohawk had four players score in double figures on Thursday. They were Billy LeClair, Winston Smithson, Corbin Woodruff and Carson Murphy. LeClair finished with 12 points (all in the second half and overtime), Smithson finished with a game-high 30 points (19 points in second half and overtime), Woodruff finished with 12 points (9 points in the second half and overtime) and Murphy finished with 20 points (12 points in second half and overtime).
Other than those four, Mohawk had three other players score in the game. Mike Carroll had two points, Joe Smith had two points and Dillon Hassett had four points.
