THE BASICS
Score: Dean College 89, Maine-Farmington 86
Records: Dean College (1-1), Maine-Farmington (0-2)
Location: Harrington Auditorium, Worcester, Mass.
Date: November 18, 2017
Time: 1:00 PM

THE LEAD
Dayvon Russell (Naugatuck, Conn.) scored the game's final five points in the last 76 seconds to lead Dean College to a thrilling 89-86 come-from-behind win over Maine-Farmington in the consolation game at the third annual Ted Coghlin Memorial Tournament hosted by WPI on Saturday afternoon.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Bulldogs trailed by as many as 14 points on a couple of occasions, including late in the first half when a Riley Robinson triple gave the Beavers a 55-41 lead.

Dean slowly began to chip away at their deficit by shooting a sizzling 55 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes. Russell was the catalyst in the comeback, netting 16 of his game-high 28 points during that time frame, while Josh Croskey (Union, N.J.) played a huge role as well.

Croskey was saddled with three first half fouls but seemed to find his rhythm in the second stanza and provided a pair of huge blocks down the stretch as well as an acrobatic fast break finish that knotted the score at 84-84.

Maine-Farmington started the game out on fire as Robinson recorded 19 of his team-high 21 points in the opening half. With his offensive exploits on full display, the Beavers stayed hot registering 55 first half points on 68 percent shooting.

Dean opened the second half aggressively and trimmed the UMF lead down to two when a Jerel Carter (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) steal led to a Jordan Booker (Waterbury, Conn.) layup making the score 62-60.

The Beavers responded and pushed their lead back to ten at 70-60 and later on it grew to 11 at 79-68 following an Eric Berry triple with a little more than eight minutes to play.

Dean clamped down defensively and held Maine-Farmington to seven points over the final eight minutes as they made their game-changing run.

When Russell found Randolf Thurman (Swampscott, Mass.) cutting back door for an easy score, the Bulldogs were within four at 83-79.

Each team split free throws and then Russell snagged a steal and breakaway finish setting the stage for Croskey's basket to even the score at 84-84 with 2:10 to play.

The Beavers went back in front when Isaac Whitam scored inside, but Russell delivered the go-ahead triple with 1:16 left.

After Witham had his go-ahead layup swatted away by Croskey, Russell connected on two free throws with 19 seconds left.

Needing a triple to force overtime on their final possession, Robinson's triple was offline and the Bulldogs claimed their first win of the season.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
In addition to Russell's 28 points, Booker added 18 points, five rebounds and three assists, while Thurman ended with 12 points, five rebounds and five assists.

Croskey posted nine points, eight rebounds and five blocks and Armani Baker (Pawtucket, R.I.) just missed out on a double-double with nine points and nine boards.

UP NEXT
Dean will return to the hardwood on Tuesday when they host Fisher College in their home opener. Tipoff is slated for 7:00 PM.