Overtime 5: Maalik Wayns Overcomes La Salle in Extra Session

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Miss Temple-Penn last night? No problem. You got to watch it again on Tuesday.

The rhetoric and superlatives so constantly thrown in support of any respected tradition can always grow tiresome, but it says something about Big 5 basketball when two underdogs can force such clear favorites to overtime on back-to-back nights.

The Villanova Wildcats and La Salle Explorers traded the lead (at least) ten times, and needed five more minutes when they found themselves deadlocked at the end of regulation. Still, for all La Salle's effort, it was ultimately unable to overcome Villanova on the 'Cats' home court.

The star of the pretty ugly ballgame, 'Nova's Maalik Wayns struggled mightily from the field for the majority of the contest. Indeed, he was just 2-12 from the floor in the late stages of the second half. Fortunately for 'Nova, he would step to drill home a three ball to cut a late La Salle lead to just two. Later, in overtime, he would sink two more to improve to his total 5-16 for the night and help Villanova to pull away from the fatigued and foul-troubled Explorers.

Though he obviously had his troubles from long range, he wasn't alone. Villanova shot just 35% from the field and went 4-23 from three. Much like Penn's opportunity to upend Temple last evening, if there was a night La Salle was going to get the better of Villanova, this was it.

Back to Wayns, his disappointing shooting percentage will dawrf—when it should really highlight—all the other things he did right. Sure, the jumper wasn't falling, but he was a perfect 10-10 from the line and pulled down 9 boards, trailing only Mouphtaou Yarou for the game-high in rebounds. The Wildcats would need every single one of those foul shots and extra possessions just to force overtime. Once in the extra session, Wayns would find his stride and help the team finally do away with La Salle.

For the Explorers, though Tyreek Duren would lead all scorers with 24 points, it was junior Sam Mills who may have opened the most eyes. Mills was the Explorer offense in the first half, registering 13 points by the middle mark on 4-4 shooting from three. Senior guard Earl Pettis, on the hand, was not so lucky. He would finish with only 12, shooting an abysmal 5-20 on the evening.

While the Explorers certainly impressed—putting up far more of a challenge than even some of the most positive La Salle fans could have thought—the effort would not be enough to move to 2-0 and steal a game from rival Villanova on its own floor.

Dr. Giannini's team will be back at it this coming Saturday when it hosts James Madison University at 3 p.m. As for the Wildcats, they have a date with the Delaware Blue Hens this Friday night at 7 p.m. from inside the Pavillion.

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