Philadelphia, Pa. (December 30) -- On day two of the East Region Classic at the Gallagher Center, the Assumption men's basketball team came away with a thrilling 78-74 overtime victory over Holy Family in the team's final non-conference game of the season. The Hounds trailed by three in the final minute of regulation before forcing the extra period.

The Hounds jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead, capped by a three-pointer from senior Kevin Donahue (Pawcatuck, Conn./Stonington) with 17:42 left in the first period. Assumption continued to lead over the next 11 minutes before the Tigers tied the game at 24-24 on a three-pointer from Alberto Munoz with 6:44 remaining. Sophomore Cory Schmidt (Center Valley, Pa./Southern Lehigh) hit a three to get the lead back for the Hounds before Khiry Hankins answered to tie the game for the second time. Assumption led by as many as six over the remainder of the half before taking a 39-37 lead into the break. Donahue led the Hounds with 18 points in the period, while Hankins posted 18 for Holy Family as the two teams combined for 13 first-half three-pointers.

The Tigers took their first lead of the game at 40-39 before the Hounds regained the advantage on a hoop by captain Tim Beinert (Bellerose Village, N.Y./Holy Cross) with 17:20 left. Beinert's basket ignited an 11-3 run over the next 5:13 as the Hounds led by their largest margin of the game at 51-42 after a three-pointer from Mike Auriemma (Manchester, Conn./The Hun School) with 13:08 remaining.

Holy Family answered with a run of its own behind six free throws and a Munoz three-pointer to tie the game against at 51-51 with 9:51 on the clock. The game remained tied at 56 moments later before a basket from Ronson Quick (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee) and a three from Donahue put the Hounds back in front by a five-point margin. That lead was quickly erased though and after a Hankins three-pointer, the game headed into the final five minutes of regulation tied at 61-61.

Quick gave the Hounds the lead back at 65-63 with 2:09 on the clock before five straight points from Munoz put the Tigers back in front at 68-65 with just over a minute left. Quick converted one of two free throws with 1:01 left and the Hounds came up with a stop on the other end, calling timeout with 23 seconds remaining. Quick converted a layup out of the timeout with nine seconds left and a potential game-winning three from Holy Family's Maurice Hargrove was wide in the final seconds to send the game into overtime.

In the overtime, Quick gave the Hounds the lead back at 69-68 on a free throw, but missed the second as the Hounds came away with the rebound. Off the ensuing inbounds play, Quick scored on a layup off a pass from Ryan Rozsnaki (Montreal, Quebec/Landstown) to give the visitors a three-point edge. An Auriemma three with 3:30 on the clock put the Hounds in front at 74-70 before Rickie Crews answered seconds later to cut the edge back to 74-72. After a number of empty trips for both teams, Assumption called timeout leading by two with just 1:11 left in the extra period.

The two teams traded free throws over the next 29 seconds before Donahue was fouled with just one second left. On the previous possession, Donahue had missed a three-pointer before Auriemma pulled down the offensive rebound. Donahue knocked down both free throws to clinch the victory as the Hounds came away with the 78-74 final.

Donahue led the Hounds with 27 points, including five three-pointers, while Quick posted 18 points and Rozsnaki had a game-high 12 assists.

Hankins led the Tigers with 30 points, along with 23 points and nine rebounds from Munoz.

With the win, Assumption now stands at 6-5 overall, while Holy Family drops to 5-6 on the season.

Assumption is back in action on Tuesday, January 3rd as the Hounds resume Northeast-10 play by traveling to Bentley University. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. at the Dana Center in Waltham, Mass.