Completed Event: Men's Basketball at Marquette on January 19, 2026 , Loss , 104, to, 105 , (OT)
Men's Basketball
at Marquette
Final
104
-
105
(OT)
Providence College Athletics
Wednesday, February 4
Providence, R.I.
7:00 p.m.
Providence College
10-13,3-9Big East
97
vs
87
Butler
13-10,4-8Big East
1
2
OT 1
OT 2
F
Butler
34
39
9
5
87
Providence
32
41
9
15
97
Men’s Basketball Defeats Butler, 97-87, In Double OT
2/4/2026 10:43:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Jaylin Sellers led the Friars with a career-high 36 points.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The Providence College men's basketball team defeated the Butler University Bulldogs (13-10, 4-8 BIG EAST), 97-87, on Wednesday, Feb. 4 at The Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, R.I. With the win, Providence moves to 10-13 overall and 3-9 in BIG EAST play. Graduate student Jaylin Sellers (Sarasota, Fla.) led the Friars with 36 points and six rebounds. Freshman Stefan Vaaks (Tabasalu, Estonia) added 20 points and sophomore Ryan Mela (Natick, Mass.) recorded his second double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
"I'm really proud of our group." Head Coach Kim English said. "We came out and responded. The last quarter of the game we really picked it up."
FIRST HALF:
• Jaylin Sellers opened up the scoring, knocking down a three-pointer for the Friars, giving them the early lead (19:00).
• Ryan Mela was able to gather an offensive rebound and lay it back in to make it 5-2, Providence (18:03).
• Jamier Jones found the cutting Oswin Enrhunmwunse (Benin City, Nigeria) down low for a two-handed dunk to give the Friars the 7-5 lead (16:48).
• Jones got to the rim after driving baseline and finished with an acrobatic layup. Two possessions later, Stefan Vaaks knocked down his first three-pointer of the night to make it 13-12, Butler (13:40).
• Out of the media timeout, Sellers responded to a Butler bucket with a three-pointer that cut into the Butler lead. On the following possession, Cole Hargrove (Norristown, Pa.) connected on a turnaround shot in the paint to tie the game at 17 (11:16).
• Sellers wove his way to the basket and finished an and-one reverse layup. He converted on the free throw to give Providence the 20-18 lead (10:33).
• Jones made his way through the lane again and was able to connect on a layup through traffic to bring the Friars within two, 24-22 (7:38).
• Mela got in the lane and converted a layup after a smooth spin move. A few plays later, Enrhunmwunse found another Providence miss and was able to lay it back in. On the following possession, Mela got through the lane again and finished another layup that completed a 6-0 Providence run and to make it 28-26, Providence (4:12).
• Mela got to his left and was able to convert at the rim, ending a 6-0 Butler run (2:05).
• Butler led at the half, 34-32.
• Providence shot 13-33 (39.4%) from the field, 3-13 (23.1%) from three, and 3-5 (60.0%) from the free-throw line.
• Butler shot 11-28 (39.3%) from the field, 2-8 (25.0%) from three, and 10-12 (83.3%) from the free-throw line.
• Sellers paced the Friars with nine points. Mela added eight.
• The Friars held the advantage on the glass, 22-18.
• The Friars held the advantage in points in the paint, 20-16.
The game was tied five times in the first half.
• Finley Bizjack led Butler with 13 points.
SECOND HALF:
• On the Friars opening possession of the half, Sellers connected on a corner three. The next Providence possession, Vaaks hit a three of his own that gave the Friars a 38-36 lead (19:03).
• After Butler missed two free-throws Vaaks got downhill for finger roll layup off the window as the Friars led 40-36 (17:41)
• Out of the media timeout Hargrove knocked down a fade-away jumper as the shot clock expired and extended Providence's lead to 44-40 (15:22).
• On a second-chance opportunity, Sellers thrashed his way to the rim for an open layup. Providence led 46-42 (13:56).
• Out of a timeout Jones worked his way to the line and knocked down a pair, the Friars trailed 50-49 (11:34).
• The following Providence possession, Sellers drove to his left, converting at the rim and drawing a foul. Sellers hit the free throw to tie the game at 52-52 (10:43).
•Mela was able to end a Providence scoring drought with a push shot in the lane; Butler owned a 60-56 lead (7:13).
•The first Providence possession out of a timeout, Sellers came off a screen and hit his fourth three of the game, the next possession Jones sliced to the rim for two, trimming the Bulldog lead to two, 63-61 (6:09).
•Vaaks was able to get downhill and draw a foul, then hitting both foul shots to cut the deficit to three, 66-63 (3:33).
•Soon after Vaaks came up with a steal at halfcourt and finished it off with a breakaway dunk, putting the Friars within two at 69-67 (2:38)
•After a Butler basket, Sellers beat his man off the dribble for layup off the window, 71-69 (1:28).
•Providence then got a stop and used a timeout, leading to another Sellers triple and putting Providence in front 72-71 (0:55).
•Butler used a timeout of their own after the Sellers three and converted at the rim to regain the lead (0:35).
•Out of a Providence timeout, Vaaks got his man in the air to commit a foul, and hit one free throw to tie the game at 73-73 (0:21).
•The Bulldogs got to the free throw line with just 1.3 seconds to play, but missed both free throws sending the game to overtime.
OVERTIME:
• On the Friars' first possession of overtime, Vaaks found Enrhunmwunse cutting baseline and threw him a perfect alley-oop to give Providence the two-point lead, 75-73 (4:41).
• Sellers connected on a long range three after Butler made one of its own. The Friars took a two-point lead, 78-76 (3:02).
• Vaaks got to the line after being fouled on a driving attempt. He converted on one of the two free throws to tie the game at 79 (1:35).
• After the Friars got a massive stop on the defensive end, Nilavan Daniels (St. Louis, Mo.) caught the ball in the corner on a pass from Mela and knocked down a three to give the Friars the lead with 18 seconds remaining.
• The game was tied at 82 at the end of over overtime.
DOUBLE OVERTIME:
•The first Providence possession of the second overtime Duncan Powell (Dallas, Texas) got fouled while, making the bucket and knocked down the free throw for his points of the game. PC then produced a stop, and Mela followed it up with a runner off the window, 87-82 (3:55).
•After another Providence defensive stand, Sellers sliced and diced to the rim drawing a foul. Sellers hit both free throws to eclipse the 30-point mark and extend the PC lead, 90-82 (2:22).
• The Friars continued to hold Butler scoreless in the second overtime, it was then Mela's turn to knock down two foul shots, giving PC its largest lead of the night at 92-82 (2:00).
•Butler connected from three, but Sellers came right back the other way with an up and under at the rim, 94-85 (1:14).
•Sellers once again worked his way to the stripe, hitting both shots to improve on his career night, 97-87 (0:46).
•Providence outscored Butler 15-5 in double overtime to pull away for a 97-87 victory.
HIGHLIGHTS:
• Providence shot 31-66 (47.%) from the field,9-28 (32.1%) from three, and 26-39(66.7%) from the free-throw line.
• Butler shot 29-65 (44.6%) from the field, 6-21 (28.6%) from three, and 23-34 (67.6%) from the free-throw line.
• Sellers recorded a career-high 36 points.
• Four players finished in double figures for the Friars: Sellers (36), Vaaks (20), Mela (14), Jones (10).
• The game marked the first time that two BIG EAST teams played two double-overtime games against each other in the same season. Butler defeated the Friars in double overtime in Indianapolis 113-110 earlier this season on Dec. 13.
• Sellers is the first Friars to record 36 points in a conference game since David Duke Jr. On Jan. 18, 2020.
• Sellers has scored 25 points or more in both games against Butler this season.
• Vaaks recorded 20 or more points for the sixth time this season.
• Ryan Mela recorded his second double- double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
• Sellers recorded a career-high in three pointers (6).
• The Friars won the rebound battle, 46-36.
• Stefan Vaaks extended his double-digit scoring streak to 23 games.
• The game was tied 12 times and had 16 lead changes.
• Go Brenda!
UP NEXT:
The Friars will return to action at the Amica Mutual Pavilion to take on the DePaul University Blue Demons on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 4:00 p.m. The game will be streamed on FS1.
-GO FRIARS!-
Team Stats
Butler
PROV
FG%
.446
.470
3FG%
.286
.321
FT%
.676
.667
RB
36
46
TO
10
10
STL
7
6
Game Leaders
Pts
36
FGM
11
3FGM
6
FTM
8
Pts
20
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
10
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
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