Waterford Makes It 2 Straight With Division II Basketball Victory

UNCASVILLE, CT - A thunderous dunk by Ryan O'Connell with a minute to play put the exclamation point on Waterford's second straight state championship, a hard-fought 63-56 win over New Britain in the Division II final Sunday at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

Last year, Waterford captured the Division III title.

The Lancers got out of the blocks slowly, trailing 7-1 just past the halfway mark of the opening quarter, but battled back to take the lead for good early in the second period. Waterford held a 32-27 advantage at intermission.

New Britain held tough, getting within four points on four different occasions in the third quarter, but could not get closer than five over the final eight minutes.

Kenny Hill led the Lancers with 19 points, while Jay Jay Brennan had 16 and O'Connell added 14 to go along with 15 rebounds.

Maurice Turner had 19 points for the Golden Hurricanes, and Dashawn Clark tallied 15.