MARYVILLE, Tenn. – Webster University completed action here Sunday afternoon in the Maryville College Classic by posting an exciting 79-74 overtime win over Eastern (Pa.) University at the Boydson Baird Gymnasium.

With the win, Webster improves to 3-1 on the season and finishes the two-day event with a 1-1 record after suffering an 84-55 loss on Saturday to Emory & Henry.

Sunday's win was impressive considering Eastern opened the event by earning a 68-65 upset win over 19th-ranked and tournament host Maryville College. 

The Gorloks, who trailed by as much as nine points late in the first half, took a 66-63 lead with 18 seconds in regulation following two free throws by junior guard Josh Johnson (St. Louis, Mo./Clayton), but the Eagles tied the game nine seconds later on a 3-pointer from Victor Pena. Webster had a chance to win in regulation, but a shot with one second left from outside the paint by Johnson missed and forced overtime. 

In overtime, the Gorloks scored the first six points of the extra session, including four of them coming from sophomore forward Nigel Wilcox (Alpharetta, Ga./Centennial) to take a 72-66 lead just two minutes into overtime.

A trey from Darius Washington brought Eastern within three at 72-69 with 2:13 left, but Johnson drilled a 3-pointer to give WU a 75-69 lead with 58 seconds left. Eastern would pull within 75-70 after Marquise Peel hit 1-of-2 free throws, but sophomore forward Ethan Hughes (Union, Mo./Park University) drilled two free throws to give the Gorloks a 76-70 lead with 34 seconds.

On Eastern's next trip upcourt, Washington drilled another trey to bring the Eagles with four at 77-73 with 34 seconds remaining. Hughes, though, would hit two more free throws to give WU an insurmountable 79-73 lead with 21 seconds left. Draig Ruff would complete the scoring by hitting 1-of-2 free throws to make WU's final margin five. 

Johnson paced Webster's offense with 23 points, including scoring 13 points in the second half. In addition to Johnson, junior forward Enrique Tankins (Wentzville, Mo./Timberland) added a career-high 21 points and pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds for his fourth career double-double.

In addition to those two players, Wilcox tallied a double-double as he had 13 points and a game-high 15 rebounds and also blocked a season high six shots. The six blocked shots are tied for fourth most in a game in school history. Wilcox has now blocked four or more shots in a game nine times in his career. 

Entering the second half, Webster trailed 37-28, but the Gorloks opened the half on an 10-0 run to take a 38-37 lead. The run began with a fast break lay-up by Tankins and was capped by a fast break basket in the paint by Tankins. Tankins scored six of WU's 10 points during the run.

The Eagles (2-1), though, would respond with a 16-12 run to take a 54-49 lead with 7:14 left in the game. The run was keyed by six points from Washington, who led Eastern with 23 points and five points from Michael Bowlers. 

Eastern would maintain its lead until the Gorloks used a 10-2 run over a span of two minutes to take a 62-58 lead following a basket by Johnson with 2:37 left in regulation. The run was keyed by four points apiece from Tankins and junior guard Jordan Clay (St. Louis, Mo./Blackburn). Clay finished with a season high 11 points. 

Austin Duncan brought the Eagles within a point at 62-61 following a trey with 2:13 left. Wilcox answered with dunk to give WU a 64-61 lead with 48 seconds remaining in regulation and then Duncan hit a lay-up with 31 seconds left to drop WU's lead to 64-63. 

In the first half, the Gorloks scored five of the game's first seven points and led 17-7 following a lay-up by Tankins with 14:28 left in the period, when Eastern used 14-0 run over a span of nearly six minutes to take a 21-17 lead. 

Junior guard Blake Ferrell (St. Louis, Mo./Parkway South) stopped the Eagles run by hitting 1-of-2 free throws with 7:52 left to pull the Gorloks within 21-18. Eastern, though, closed the half on a 16-10 run to take a 37-28 halftime lead. 

Along with Washington and Pena, Duncan and Bowlers each had 10 points for the Eagles. 

Webster finished the game shooting 48 percent from the field and 38 percent from the 3-point line, including shooting a combined 16-for-31 (51.6 percent) in the second half and overtime period. The Gorloks also finished the game shooting 68 percent (19-for-28) from the free throw line. 

Meanwhile, Eastern shot 38 percent from the floor and 39 percent from long distance as they connected on nine of its 23 tries from the 3-point line. 

The Eagles held a 42-40 edge on the glass, despite Wilcox (15) and Tankins (13) collecting 28 boards between them. WU had 15 turnovers that led to 19 Eastern points, while Eastern had 14 turnovers that led to 14 Gorlok points. 

Webster finished the game with eight blocked shots, which is tied for 12th most in a game in school history. 

The Gorloks will return to action this coming Friday, Nov. 23 as they host the University of the Ozarks in an 8 p.m. game at Grant Gymnasium as part of the Webster Classic. Westminster (Mo.) College will open the two-day, four-team event with a 6 p.m. game against 19th-ranked Illinois Wesleyan. On Saturday, Nov. 24, the Gorloks will face Illinois Wesleyan at 3 p.m. and Westminster will face the University of the Ozarks at 1 p.m.