Box Score OWENSBORO, Ky. - Pre-season G-MAC favorite Kentucky Wesleyan charged from behind in the final three minutes of regulation and went on to defeat Cedarville, 81-77, in overtime at the Owensboro Sportscenter.

The Yellow Jackets, 10-15 overall and 6-5 G-MAC, rebounded from a seven-point halftime deficit to lead 69-62 at the 2:50 mark following a three-pointer by Marcus Reineke. It was still a 70-67 margin when CU was whistled for a critical five-second violation on an inbounds play with 43 seconds remaining.

The Panthers tied it on a three-pointer and the visitors misfired on a potential game-winner in the final seconds.

In overtime, the Yellow Jackets struck first and led for the first three minutes. Reineke's jumper provided a 77-76 edge with 1:22 to play. However, KWC scored the final five points to close out the victory and improve to 18-6 and 7-3 G-MAC.

Austin Pickett buried four three-pointers and scored a game-high 20 points to go along with five assists. Reineke finished with 19 points while Leighton Smith chipped in 13.

Next Up: Cedarville wraps up the home schedule on Thursday by hosting Salem International at 7:45 p.m.

Quotable: Head Coach Pat Estepp

"Give Kentucky Wesleyan. They executed better than we did at the end of the game and that's on me.

"We missed some key free throws, but I have to do a better job helping us close out a game. We can't get a five-second violation with 40 seconds left on a sideline inbounds play.

"I'm proud of our guys effort. But, that's about the third game we played well enough to win and didn't. It's my job to make us better at the end of games. We've got to get back to work next week. We are playing good basketball, but we just have to close games out."

Numbers Game:

• Pickett hit the 20-point plateau for the third time.
• Reineke hit both of his free throws; he rates 5th in the country in accuracy at .923 (84-of-91).
• It was Cedarville's first overtime game of the year.
• The Jackets have made at least nine three-pointers in their last five games hitting 51-of-112 (.455).
• The teams split the two regular season games by a total of six points.
• Kentucky Wesleyan leads the all-time series, 4-1.
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