SCHENECTADY, N.Y.Joe Smith and Greg Leone combined to score 11 of Hamilton's 12 overtime points as the Continentals came back to defeat Union, 90-80, in an Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association men's basketball game at Memorial Field House.

The win lifts Hamilton's conference record to 5-4 and 13-6 overall. The win was the 596th in the career of Continental coach Tom Murphy, who is retiring after this season after 34 years on the Hamilton bench. Union, meanwhile, dipped to 6-4 in the UCAA and 16-5 overall.

Leone, who finished with 19 points, broke a 78-78 tie with 3:14 left in the extra session by hitting one of two field goals and then converted a layup to give the Continentals an 81-78 lead with 2:41 showing. Smith, who had game-highs with his 26 points and 15 rebounds, scored the next four points and wound up scoring seven overtime points, all from the charity stripe.

Hamilton, which trailed by 10 at the break, 47-37, quickly erased its deficit as Tim Welchons, who knocked down 16 markers, sparked a 13-5 run as he hit back-to-back three-point baskets to bring the Continentals back to within two, 52-50, with 15:01 left to play. Hamilton took its first lead of the game, 63-62, although short-lived at 9:55 as Mike Evans scored off his own rebound. There were six ties over the last 8:45 of regulation, including a 78-78 deadlock that occurred when Union's Devon Bruce took a feed from Chris Murphy with seven seconds left. The game went into overtime when Hamilton's three-point field goal attempt bounced off the basket at the buzzer.

The first half was a three-point field goal shooting contest as the Dutchmen clicked on six of their 13 tres while the Continentals hit on nine of 16. Bruce was perfect in the first half, hitting all six of his field goals including both of his three-point shots.

Union enjoyed a seven-point lead four times during the first 20 minutes before Bruce scored the game's next eight points to increase the Garnet's margin to 11, 36-25 with 6:10 remaining. A three-point shot by Brian Scordato with 1:16 left gave Union its biggest advantage of the first half, 47-32, before Hamilton came back to close out the half with a three-point field goal from Leone and a two-point jumper by Welchons.

Bruce finished with 22 points and eight rebounds for the Dutchmen while John Cagianello contributed 20 points.

Union will play its final four regular-season games on the road over the next two weeks as the Dutchmen attempt to qualify for the four-team conference championship tournament.