MONMOUTH – With just over a second left in overtime and the outcome essentially decided, Hall-Dale’s Ryan Leach extended his hand to several Monmouth players and gave them a hearty shake.

The gesture of sportsmanship meant something more to the Mustangs. It meant that the monkey was finally off their backs.

Leach led the Bulldogs in a dramatic fourth-quarter comeback, then saw the Mustangs come through with clutch free-throw shooting and even more clutch performances off the bench to secure their first win of the season in a thrilling 85-79 barn-burner.

Tim Whitmore scored 12 of his 14 points off the bench in the fourth quarter and overtime, while fellow reserve Ryan Baillargeon added all nine of his points in the final 12 minutes for Monmouth (1-7). Those contributions helped the Mustangs survive squandering a 12-point lead and losing their top scorer to fouls late in regulation.

“It feels great to get it off our chest,” Whitmore said. “I was shaking. I was nervous. But I did what I had to do to win.”

“We finished with two sophomores, two juniors and a senior out there,” Monmouth coach Randy Parenteau said. “Parker Ferland fouled out and everybody stepped up.”

Ferland, who led the Mustangs with 22 points and 10 rebounds, went to the bench with 1:49 left and Monmouth clinging to a precarious 64-60 lead.

Leach, who scored 15 of his game-high 29 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Bulldogs back from a 62-50 deficit, ended up tying the game at 66 with 1:02 remaining. The two teams exchanged two sets of free throws, with Whitmore calmly sinking the last pair to knot it at 70-70 with 14.8 seconds left.

Hall-Dale came out of a time out and set up a final shot for Leach, who dribbled to his left with Whitmore guarding him. Leach went airborne and got off a six-footer that went in, but Corey Dyke (12 points, seven rebounds) stepped in to take a charge and negate the hoop with 3.2 seconds to go.

“Ryan Leach is a great player. I played with him in middle school,” Whitmore said. “Coach told me I had to guard him tonight when Parker fouled out, so I had to step up, and Corey stepped in and took the charge.”

Dyke’s 23-footer at the buzzer drew iron but bounced out to send the game to the extra session.

Poor free throw shooting and defensive lapses did in Hall-Dale in the overtime. Damien Melnicove’s baseline turnaround gave the Bulldogs their last lead, and last points, at 79-77 with 1:22 left. Baillargeon put the Mustangs back in front for good with a 3-pointer 13 seconds later.

“I had an open look and I took it,” Baillargeon said. “I just tried to help out (in the fourth and overtime) because one of our best players, Parker, fouled out.”

Dyke later outfought three Bulldogs for a loose ball near halfcourt, then found a wide open Whitmore for a layup to make it 82-79 with 32 seconds left. After Leach missed a trey to tie it, Joshua Davis and Whitmore combined to make three-of-four free throws to ice it.

Hall-Dale shot 3-for-6 from the field in overtime but just 3-for-7 from the foul line.

“It was some decisions and some foul shooting down the home stretch that hurt us,” said Hall-Dale coach Jim Patrick, whose team has played the whole season thus far without top player Tyler Cummings, who is expected to return from a broken arm later this week. “We kept the press on so they wouldn’t get an easy look, and they managed to come down and score.”

Monmouth had a lot of difficulty with Hall-Dale’s press early in the game, falling behind 23-12 in the first quarter.

But Parenteau rotated some extra ball-handlers into his lineup and the Mustangs started to attack the defense for some easy layups to take a 33-32 lead into halftime.

“We basically had to get under control and make sure the guys knew their assignments,” Parenteau said. “Like I’ve told these guys all year, we play our best when we play defense and run and we attack the basket. We did that tonight.”

“After we broke the press, it was a lot easier to get to the hoop because we had them on their heels,” Baillargeon said.

Davis played an excellent all-around game for the Mustangs with 20 points, five rebounds, five assists, four steals and two blocks. Keith McGillivary added 23 points for Hall-Dale.