The second seed Colby-Sawyer College men’s basketball team erased a 10-point halftime deficit to edge Johnson State, 99-95 in overtime of the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) tournament semifinals on Feb 26.

Colby-Sawyer improves to 19-6 and will play in tomorrow’s NAC Championships game against top seed Husson at 4:30 p.m. Johnson State ends its season at 10-17.

Sophomore Nolan Bird scored the first two buckets in overtime and was followed by a short jumper in the lane by senior Peter Donato to give the Chargers an 89-83 advantage in the first two minutes of the extra session. A pair of free throws from Johnson State sophomore Rasul Jackson brought the Badgers within four with 2:45 left. The teams traded points in the next two minutes as the Badgers came within a pair, but Bird came up with an important tip-in to push the Colby-Sawyer lead back to four. Senior Rahim Bunch made a jumper with a foot on the line to cut it to 94-92 with 30 seconds to play. Colby-Sawyer iced the game by making five of six from the free throw line in the waning seconds.

Colby-Sawyer senior Peter Donato led all players with 34 points. Sophomore Taylor Grande (Bedford, N.H.) added 18 points, including 5-of-7 from beyond the arc. Senior Wol Majong chipped in 17 , while freshman Jourdain Bell and Nolan Bird added 10 points apiece.

Johnson State was led by senior Rahim Bunch who flirted with a triple-double. He had 26 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. Rasul Jackson scored 19 points, while junior Benjamin Holl scored 13. Sophomore Demetrius Slade finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds and senior Asim Khan also scored 12 points.

Colby-Sawyer raced out to a 7-2 run capped by a Peter Donato layup but the lead was short lived as Johnson State poured in the next 11 points including eight points from Rasul Jackson. The Chargers would regain the lead two minutes later and hold the advantage for seven minutes before Johnson State took a 29-28 lead with 5:33 left to play in the half. With the game tied at 31-31, the Badgers used a 12-0 run in a four minute span to take their largest lead of the frame at 43-31. Donato scored the final bucket of the half to head into the lockerroom with the score 43-33 in favor of Johnson State.

The Badgers shot an impressive 64.3 percent from the floor, while holding Colby-Sawyer to 37.1 percent shooting. Each team made six three pointers in the half.

Johnson State held a lead for the first 7:13 of the second half before a Jourdain Bell gave Colby-Sawyer a 55-54 advantage. The game went back and forth for the next several minutes before the Chargers took an 80-72 lead with 4:12 left to play. Johnson State received a trey from Benjamin Holl on the next trip down the court to cut the deficit to 80-75 as the teams approached the final media timeout. Peter Donato scored the next three Colby-Sawyer points but was answered by a Rahim Bunch trey to make the game 83-78 in favor of the Chargers with two minutes to play. Johnson State continued to chip away at the deficit with a free throw from Holl and a Jackson layup on the next two possessions.

With the score 83-81 in favor of the Chargers, Johnson State’s Asim Khan went to the line and knocked down a pair of free throws to knot the game at 83-83 with 37 seconds left. Each time had a possession in the final seconds but could not end the game.