College of San Mateo's men's basketball team swept all three games at the San Jose City College Tipoff Classic over the weekend, starting with a pair of cliffhangers.

The Bulldogs, ranked No. 16 in the state preseason poll, came back to defeat Feather River College, 75-71, in Thursday's opener. They edged Merced, 112-109, in three overtimes on Friday; then finished with an easier 76-57 triumph over Lassen on Saturday.

Against Feather River, Justin Milch drained a 3-pointer with 21 seconds left to put the Bulldogs ahead, 73-71. Feather River failed to counter and then fouled, accounting for the final points.

In the Merced game, the Bulldogs trailed, 88-85, through the final minute of regulation before Shakur Blaylock drained a long 3-pointer from atop the key with one second remaining to knot the count. In the extra period,  Malik Merchant's corner three made it 93-all with 57 seconds left and sent it to another OT. Merchant drove for a lay-up with 13 seconds remaining in the second overtime to create a 101-101 tie, necessitating another 5-minute period. CSM wasted little time taking the advantage in the third OT. Blaylock sank an uncontested three and followed up with a steal and lay-up. A driving jumper by Milch made it 108-101 with 2:50 remaining. Merced, however, battled back and stayed in contention until the end, closing to 112-109 with six seconds left, then creating a turnover and missing a long desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer.   

Alex Martin led four Bulldog scorers in double figures for the opening  weekend with a 17.0 average, followed by Tim Netane (13.0), Merchant (11.3), and Milch (11.0).

--CSM's home opener at College Heights is on Saturday (Nov. 12), vs. San Jose CC, at 3 p.m.

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--Fred Baer, College of San Mateo Sports Information