UNCASVILE, Conn. – The Providence College men’s basketball team was defeated in overtime by the Virginia Tech Hookies, 107-101 on Saturday, Nov. 8 at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn. Graduate student Jason Edwards (Atlanta, Ga.) led the team with 28 points. Fellow graduate student Jaylin Sellers (Columbus, Ga.) added 26. Oswin Erhunmwunse (Benin City, Nigeria) recorded his fourth career double-double, with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
“Hard fought game.” Head Coach Kim English said. “Give Virginia Tech credit. They did a lot of good things down the stretch, especially in overtime. The shot making in that game was at a high level.”
FIRST HALF:
• On the Friars’ first defensive possession, Oswin Erhunmwunse brought the crowd to its feet with an emphatic block on a Virginia Tech dunk attempt.
• Jaylin Sellers opened the scoring for Providence, connecting on two free throws to tie the game at 2 (18:17).
• Virginia Tech responded with a 6-2 scoring run before Jason Sellers assisted Erhunmwunse on an and-one, alley-oop dunk. The Hokies scored on the ensuing possession to make it 10-7, Virginia Tech, going into the first media timeout.
• A deep three point make by Jason Edwards pulled the Friars within five, 17-12 (14:09).
• A Virginia Tech three-pointer followed by a Ryan Mela (Natick, Mass.) floater made it 20-14 Hokies going into the second media timeout.
• Out of the timeout, back-to-back three pointers from Stefan Vaaks (Tabasalu, Estonia) and Sellers tied the game at 20 (10:51).
• Jamier Jones (Sarasota, Fla.) stole a pass and got out in transition for a fast break dunk for his first points of the game (9:39).
• Back-to-back driving efforts from Sellers and Corey Floyd Jr. (Franklin, N.J.) gave the Friars their first lead of the night, 26-25 (8:39).
• Providence extended its lead going into the media timeout after a Sellers three pointer that made it 29-27 (7:23).
• The game was notched at 37 after both teams traded baskets on four consecutive possessions before a Virginia Tech timeout (4:45).
• A 7-0 run on a pair of free throws from Duncan Powell (Dallas, Texas) followed by another Sellers three and two free throws from Erhunmwunse made it 44-37, giving the Friars their largest lead of the game (0:40).
• A Virginia Tech three followed by a pair of Edwards free throws made it 46-40 going into the half.
• Providence shot 15-34 (44.21) from the field, 7-17 (41.2%) from three, and 9-10 (90.0%) from the free-throw line.
• Virginia Tech shot 14-32 (43.8%) from the field, 7-16 (43.8%) from three, and 6-6 (83.3%) from the free-throw line.
• Providence held the edge in rebounding, 19-17.
• Sellers led the Friars with 13 points in the first 20 minutes.
• Virginia Tech’s Neoklis Avdalas led all scorers with 17.
SECOND HALF:
• Sellers picked up where he left off, scoring on a driving layup and a turnaround jumper to open the scoring in the second half to make it 50-42, Providence (18:18).
• The teams traded baskets on four straight possessions before a 10-0 Virginia Tech run that gave them the lead 56-54 (14:29).
• Vaaks converted on a jumper to tie the game at 56 on the following possession (14:07).
• Two possessions later, Vaaks answered a Virginia Tech three with one of his own to tie the game at 61 going into the second media timeout (11:15). The three marked Vaaks third of the game.
• Out of the timeout, Sellers continued his strong shooting performance with a three pointer that gave the Friars a three-point lead, 64-61, before the media timeout (10:02).
• A blow by layup by Edwards followed by a Virginia Tech basket put the score at 67-67 going into the media timeout (7:36).
• Out of the time out, Edwards connected on a three-pointer pass from Cole Hargrove () to give the Friars a three-point lead.
• Jamier Jones threw down his second alley-oop dunk of the game on an assist from Edwards to keep the Friars up three following two Virginia Tech free throws (6:49).
• Oswin Erhunmwunse connected on two free throws awarded to him on a flagrant foul to tie the game at 74. The Friars retained possession and Stefan Vaaks connected on his fourth three pointer of the night to give Providence the 77-74 lead (5:27).
• Fast back and forth action resulted in Virginia Tech leading, 82-81, going into the final media timeout. Layups by Sellers and Mela kept the Friars within one (3:03).
• A Duncan Powell free throw on the front end of a one-and-one, followed by an offensive rebound and Jason Edwards pull-up jumper tied the game at 84 with under two minutes remaining (1:54).
• A pair of Edwards free throws gave the Friars the two-point lead before a Virginia Tech timeout (1:06).
• A put back layup by Virginia Tech tied the game at 86 with 7 seconds remaining. The Friars brought the ball up the court and called a timeout with 3.8 seconds remaining.
• The Friars inbounded the ball to Stefan Vaaks who attempted a step back three that rattled around the rim and bounced out. End of regulation.
OVERTIME:
• Erhunmwunse answered Virginia Tech’s quick first basket to keep it tied at 88 (4:34).
• Virginia Tech went on a 6-0 run that forced a Providence timeout (3:23).
• A Jason Edwards driving layup followed by Stefan Vaaks hitting all three free throws after being fouled on a three-point-attempt pulled the Friars within 1, 96-95 (2:11).
• A 4-0 run by Virginia Tech, after a Sellers layup, gave them a six-point lead, 103-97, with under a minute remaining.
• The Friars converted layups and made free throws, but Virginia Tech made its free throws down the stretch to secure the win.
HIGHLIGHTS:
• Four players finished in double figures for the Friars: Edwards (28), Sellers (26), Vaaks (17) and Erhunmwunse (11).
• Virginia Tech forward Neoklis Avdalas finished with 33 points, earning him the game’s most valuable player award.
• Oswin Erhunmwunse finished with a team high 11 rebounds and a game high four blocks.
• Erhunmwunse recorded his first double double of the season and the fourth of his career.
• Stefan Vaaks connected on four three pointers.
• Providence’s bench outscored Virginia Tech’s 27-20, with two in double figures.
• Providence held the rebound advantage, 43-42.
• Providence shot 34-76 (44.7%) from the field, 11-33 (33.3%) from three, and 22-25 (88.0%) from the free-throw line.
• Virginia Tech shot 40-79 (50.6%) from the field, 12-28 (42.9%) from three, and 15-22 (68.2%) from the free-throw line.
NOTES:
• The Friars have posted a 4-6 mark all-time versus Virginia Tech.
• The Friars scored 100 points in a game for the first time since January 17, 2024 against DePaul.
• The last time the Friars lost a game when scoring over 100 points was on Jan. 23, 2010 against the University of South Florida, 109-105.
• The Friars fell to 80-72 all-time in OT games.
• Providence has posted a 3-1 mark all-time versus the Hokies at home. PC is 1-3 on the road versus Virginia Tech and 0-2 in neutral arenas.
• The Friars are 137-199 all-time versus teams from the ACC.
• Saturday marked the first of two games the Friars will play at Mohegan Sun this season and PC’s eighth game all-time at Mohegan Sun Arena.
• The Friars have posted a 3-6 mark all-time at Mohegan Sun Arena.
UP NEXT:
The Friars will host Penn in Providence, R.I. on Saturday Nov. 11 at the Amica Mutual Pavilion.
Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
-GO FRIARS!-
