Nelson's buzzer beater lifts Rivier to Tournament Championship

(Nashua, New Hampshire) Tied at 83 with 1.4 seconds left, Rivier senior Shawn Gareau (Hardwick, MA) inbounded the ball to junior Jake Nelson who was able to spin and launch a three-pointer that beat the buzzer to give the Raiders a thrilling 86-83 win over Endicott College to capture the 2013 Rivier University/Coca-Cola Tip Off Tournament Championship. It was the first time that the Raiders were crowned Tournament Champions since 2010.

Rivier was led by Tournament MVP senior Nick Walch (Dedham, MA) who scored 23 points and collected 17 rebounds – his second straight double-double. Sophomore Kywane Thomas (Hartford, CT) played exceptionally well as he netted 21 points while senior Tom Poitras (Bow, NH) recorded his second straight 20 point game.

Endicott (4-1 overall) received stellar efforts from juniors John Henault (Lunenburg, MA) and Andre Makris (Southbury, CT) who scored 21 and 18 points, respectively. Sophomore Taylor Rioux (Ivoryton, CT) and freshman Max Motroni (West Warwick, RI) each added 11 points in the loss. Rioux and junior Matt Kneece (Shrewsbury, MA) led the team with 6 rebounds.

Henault and freshman Stephen Basden (Lynn, MA) were selected to the All-Tournament Team from Endicott along with Anthony Williams (Freshman/White Plains, NY) of Wheelock College and junior Darryl Charles (Middletown, NY) from Saint Joseph's College of Long Island. Poitras and Walch were the Rivier recipients.